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Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1850, by 

E OBERT DODGE, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the 

Southern District of New York. 



DIARY, 

SKETCHES AND REVIEWS, 

DURING AN 

EUROPEAN TOUR, 

in % Dear 1847. 



v' 
ROBERT DODGE. 

a 



PRINTED FOR HIS FRIENDS 



NEW-YORK: 4 

1850. 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



This volume contains an imperfect daily record of some 
pleasant scenes in the lands beyond the sea, being simply 
the original notes made on the spot, at the close of each day 
in the pilgrimage, and is now printed merely for their pre- 
servation and for private use. 

In addition to the Diary will be found some reviews and 
sketches of kindred subjects, nearly all of which were writ- 
ten whilst travelling : these have been already printed on 
the dates and in the publications mentioned in their titles. 
They were mostly private letters, addressed to friends in 
Europe and in this country, and, by them, were some time 
since given to the press. 

This Diary and the Sketches are now submitted to the 
indulgent eye of friendship. 

New York, January 1st, 1850. 



VOYAGE OUT IN PACKET ASHBURTON. 

HOWLAND, CAPTAIN. 

April 6th, 1847.— Vessel put up to sail and got out in 
stream; wind dead east, and stormy ; packet Northumber- 
land coming in, struck her and carried away jib-boom, cut- 
water and figurehead, and she laid over till Thursday the 
8th instant. 

8th.— Went on board in small boat about half-past ten ; 
at 12 M., steamer Duncan C. Pell, with passengers, friends, 
and captain came alongside. W. D. R., 0. D. and 
Major L. came to accompany me; about 4, P. M., 
steamer towing ahead till half-past 7, P. M., when pilot 
left us, jumping on steamer, and she was cut loose ; in fine 
spirits all day; about midnight, wind being previously west 
and clear, a sudden squall of east wind and rain struck us, 
lasting till 4, A. M. ; very hard blow, short sea, and felt 

much nausea. 

9th.— Clear strong west wind, ship's course E.S.E., 
average rate nine knots, getting sea legs ; kept the deck a 
little, retired about 8, P. M., slept well; nearly all sick. 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 



10th. — Clear; same wind, course and rate; felt well, 
and in full spirits ; ate heartily ; fine phosphoresence in sea 
at night ; at noon captain reports two hundred and fifty- 
eight miles from New York ; in forty-one hours from New 
York got in the Gulf stream, very warm water, about 70° ; 
about six passengers at meals. 

11th. — Sunday. — Same wind, weather, course, and rate 
at noon. Report four hundred and eighty-four miles run. 
Heavy blow at night, with rain ; clergyman sick ; no service ; 
felt very well, four meals as usual. Sand birds come on 
board every day ; to-day some swallows, on the ninth a fine 
woodpecker ; but they all soon die from exhaustion. 

12th. — Same wind and course, rate nine knots. Report 
six hundred and ninety-four miles at noon ; weather a little 
squally, felt hearty ; same number of passengers visible. 

13th. — Weather fair, same wind, and course, rate nine and 
a half knots ; at noon, report eight hundred and ninety-four 
miles run. 

14th. — Blowing hard S.W., squally and chopping ; 
shipped several seas over quarter, and one into round-house. 
Report at noon, eleven hundred and eight miles. Off the 
banks, on same course. 

15th. — Course S.E., wind N.W., and very light, rate 
four to five knots, weather clear and bracing ; a ship, name 
unknown, seen on larboard about 4, P. M., and sailed in 
company all night. Report at noon one hundred and sixty- 
four miles run, in all twelve hundred and seventy-two miles 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 



from New York. All the passengers out to-day and quite 
well, wind fell off in afternoon, almost calm ; evening wind 
chopping at last S.E. 

16th. — Course E. by S., about noon wind came up from 
S.W., ship tacked; clear and beautiful weather. Report 
seventy-three miles made, in all thirteen hundred and forty- 
five from New York. 

17th. — Course E., weather clear and fine, rate eleven 
knots, noon. Report two hundred and thirty-eight miles, 
in all fifteen hundred and seventy-five from New York. 

18th. — Sunday. — After yesterday's fine run, wind shift- 
ed to E., course S.W., rainy, no observation. Report 
one hundred and ninety miles, seventeen hundred and sixty- 
five in all ; service and sermon in the cabin, by Rev. Mr. 
Kelling of Grace Church, Cincinnati, Ohio ; quite fair ser- 
mon, several of the sailors came down to service, an interest- 
ing sight. About 9, P. M., wind changed, tacked ship ; all 
hands, twenty-six men, on quarter deck at once. 

19th. — Course E.N.E., rate eight knots, wind S.W., 
splendid day ; lay around deck all day, too fine to move 
about; 3, P. M., spoke schooner Jane, of Plymouth, from 
Belize, out twenty days, bound to Cork, no news. Report 
one hundred miles, in all eighteen hundred and sixty-five 
miles from New York. After dinner, an American packet, 
homebound, passed us under full sail ; too far off to read the 
name or speak ; ran out our signal, but it was not answered ; 
in fifteen minutes she was out of sight; towards night, 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 



another sail seen on horizon starboard distant, but with the 
glass we could see people on the deck ; she looked superbly 
in the bright sunshine, dashing the foam about. 

20th. — Weather before breakfast very fine. Wind the 
same, rate nine to ten knots, afterwards rainy ; wind chop- 
ping to N.E. and cloudy : no observation. Report one 
hundred and ninety, in all two thousand and fifty-five miles. 
Cleared up cold, with west wind, after dinner. 

21st. — Wind N.W. Course S.E. ; clear and bracing ; 
saw four sail. Report two hundred and eighty-four miles, 
total two hundred and twenty-four miles : after lunch, 
arrival lottery drawn, each ticket (sixteen in all,) represent- 
ing six hours, from Tuesday at 12, night, till do. Saturday 
next week ; half sovereign each. I drew Wednesday, to 
6, P. M. 

Condition : arrival before or after to count first or last 
ticket. Ship Severn, New York, from Havre to New York, 
spoke us and passed off in grand style, ckck full of French 
emigrants ; passing so near that we threw newspapers on 
board. 

22d. — Course E., but wind getting ahead; rate two to 
five knots. Report one hundred and eight, total two 
thousand three hundred and forty -nine miles ; towards noon, 
wind changed west and the vessel was making a better run. 

23d. — 'Wind W. Course E. Clear and cool. Report 
one hundred and sixteen miles, total two thousand four 
hundred and sixty-five miles. 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 



24th. — Wind W. by S. ; rate, eight to eleven knots. 
Report two hundred and thirty miles ; hazy, several sail 
seen; total two thousand seven hundred and sixty-five 
miles. 

25th. — Sunday — Wind S.W. /little hazy, sea changing 
color. Report that Ave are on soundings. Rate, two hun- 
dred and thirty-six miles : total three thousand and one 
miles ; service in cabin. 

26th. — Clear wind, W. At ten o'clock last night, pass- 
ed Cape Clear, standing off thirty-five miles ; land seen this 
morning, lead thrown; at twelve at night, sixty-eight 
fathoms, brought up gravel. Report one hundred and 
ninety-five miles run, three thousand one hundred and 
ninety-six miles in all. Rate, about six knots. 

About 6, P. M., passed Tascar light, too distant to be 
fully visible; foggy and rainy. About 9, P. M., wind 
veered S.W., then cleared off. Rate, nine to ten knots. 

27th. — Rose (awakened by the first mate, Mr. Williams,) 
between 4 and 5, A. M., to see the Holyhead, which we 
were passing ; a splendid morning ; it was refreshing to look 
on solid ground, and the fresh green hills : about 6, A. M., 
passing Anglesey, making signals, and ship running eleven 
and a half knots, heavy blow ; about 7, A. M., pilot arrived, 
the tide increased our speed to fourteen knots ; passed near 
Brighton, the Fort, Birkenhead, Bootle, Rock Ferry, and 
about 12, M., anchored in the Slogue, as the anchorage is 
called, within a stone's throw of the middle of the city of 



10 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

Liverpool. A steam tug came alongside, and after some 
delay in waiting for a customhouse officer, who did not at 
last arrive, we went on board the steamer, leaving all 
our baggage, and in about ten minutes reached the pier, 
some half a mile from our hotel ; walked up, gazing with 
delight and some surprise at the miles of substantial docks, 
with fine stone levees, forests of warehouses, and wide, 
finely paved streets ; stopped at Adelphi Hotel, Ranelagh 
Place, the Astor House here, a first rate house ; walked out 
through the leading streets ; Lord street is fine, side-walks 
are of asphalt, carriage-way macadamised, stores built in 
collonacles : Ionic chiefly, immense plate windows, very fine 
shops. Bold street is the Broadway here ; Hausburg's 
store of fancy goods, like Bonfanti's with us, is the main 
lion there ; its front is Ionic, eighty feet, four stories high, 
one hundred and twenty feet deep, some hundred clerks ; 
the proprietor showed me through. There are many other 
fine stores ; the street was full of ladies, some quite pretty, 
but not so well dressed as at home. 

27th. — In the evening went through the railroad station 
here, a fine building, some two hundred feet front, Corin- 
thian, of freestone, where all the trains terminate ; and the 
Exchange, New Town Hall, St. George's, not yet finished. 
It is much like our patent office at Washington, of light 
Portland stone, standing very high. Strolled with friends, 
a mile or two about the streets, came home very much 
fatigued, and retired early. 



DIARY OP A TOUR IN EUROPE. 11 

28th. — After breakfast, walked to St. James' Cemetery, 
some half mile from the hotel, quarried deep in solid lime- 
stone. On a stone path, under a stone arch, the only monu- 
ment worth remark, is Huskisson's beautiful statue in the 
centre ; neat Doric Chapel at the gate ; a little beyond the 
cemetery, a fine flight of steps leads to a beautiful park of 
some two acres long, and narrow, called the Mount ; fronting 
on St. James' road, with fine, terrace and view over the 
city and villages ; from the inside you look down into the 
cemetery, a depth of sixty or eighty feet. Eighteen thousand 
persons have been interred in this cemetery in eighteen 
years. 

Half-past 1, P. M., got in railway boat to Birkenhead, 
then took the cars to Chester, to witness the great race for 
cups and tradesman's plate, this spring meeting. Chester 
is an interesting city, whole streets of houses centuries old, 
not a new house visible anywhere. The race course is just 
out of the walls, and forms a natural amphitheatre, bounded 
by the old wall, the bank of the river Dee, and low hills, 
and on the right the Welch railway viaduct ; some forty to 
fifty thousand persons were there ; course twenty-five yards 
wide, one mile round ; I stood by the judge's stand ; twenty- 
nine horses ran for the great plate. St. Lawrence, the win- 
ning horse, beating only by a half length. Fifty thousand 
pounds were said to have been bet on this race. 

After this race, came the race for the tradesman's plate 
of two hundred sovereigns. I took a cab and drove out 



12 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

through lovely hedgerows, and beautiful level country, four 
miles to Eaton Hall, on the lovely river Dee, the seat of the 
Marquis of Westminster, one of the wealthiest peers of 
England. 

The house is modern, built in pointed Gothic, of free- 
stone, quite extensive, overlooking, with its numerous tur- 
rets, the river Dee on one side, and the fine country beyond 
on the other, with stately parks of some seven miles square. 
It is closed at present for repairs ; I walked all around it ; 
some forty deer were quietly reposing in the outer park ; 
the whole way from Chester seems full of the lodges attach- 
ed to Eaton Hall. I plucked a chesnut branch in frontof 
the hall ; taking the cab back and cars from Chester, got 
to Liverpool again at about 8, P. M., sixteen miles ride. 

29th. — Finished and despatched letters. Rode out to 
the zoological gardens. My friend here, James LoAye, Esq., 
dined with me ; after dinner took a short walk with him. 
At quarter to eight took the train to Manchester ; arrived 
about half-past nine ; thirty-one miles bad road ; passed 
Parkside where Huskisson was killed; met C. K. T. here ; 
wrote letters and journal, and retired early, at Albion 
Hotel. 

30th. — Presented letters. Mr. Robert F. walked around 
town with me; no fine buildings, all are cotton factories 
or warehouses. Called on Mr. H. of the firm of S. T. 
Jones & Co. and he presented me with a ticket for the dress 
concert, this evening ; went at about 6, P. M. ; was received 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 13 

in a fine vestibule, with dressing room, etc., leaving hat and 
cane. Went up stairs, into a fine, large room, some seventy 
feet long and forty feet wide, and lofty, with a gallery in front. 
The orchestra and semi-circle in rear of a fine proscenium, 
with an organ : forty musicians, fair concert, but not so good 
as the Philharmonic, with us ; some good singing. There 
were about three thousand there, in full dress, but little 
beauty. Met Thomas C, of New York, there ; came down 
to hotel with me, and spent an hour there. 

May 1st. — Railways have killed May-day here; it 
may be better in rural districts, but there is no difference 
between this, and any other day here. These great facto- 
tories, one or two of which I saw, each employing some 
four hundred hands, kill soul and body here. Mr. F. 
says his rates, local, are seven shillings three-pence in 
the pound, but that he netts ten per cent from stores here, 
which is thought a very high rate of revenue. Saw Cob- 
den's free-trade hall, holding ten thousand persons. It was 
in this hall, that, last week, Mendelssohn conducted the 
performance of his Oratorio of Elijah. Music is all that re- 
deems stupid Manchester. At 10, A. M., left for Leeds, 
where I dined, and then went out to Kirkstall abbey, thence 
I go on to York, to spend the Sunday. Kirkstall abbey is a 
pretty ruin, ivy clad on the river Aire, near Kirkstall vil- 
lage ; much injured by time and reformation— but the nave 
still looks fresh. Arrived at York from Leeds, with 
C. K. T. at about 8, P. M. ; strolling about the town, 



14 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

bought some little pictures, etc., and retired. In Leeds, saw 
the Cloth-Hall, St. Peter's Church, the Exchange, Market, 
etc. ; more filthy and squalid people, in as dirty a town, I 
have never yet seen. Passed through on our way to Leeds, 
Wakefield, a neat factory town ; country fine and rolling ; 
early potatoes were coming up, fields crossed constantly with 
trenches for irrigation and liquid manure, fine hedge-rows 
of hawthorn and running roses. 

2d. — York. Went to the Minster service in the morning, 
in choir — walked about the fine nave and transepts, till the 
first lesson began, when the iron gate would be closed. 
There are forty-four canon stalls about the choir. First les- 
son was read from the Brass Eagle, which was given in the 
year one thousand six hundred. Three canons only were pre- 
sent; the singing boys, twenty in number, half on either 
side, in pew, in front of the vicar's choral, sang the service, 
chanting the psalter and every response splendidly. Organ 
delicious in tone, and well played. Sermon, by the Rev. 
and Hon. Mr. Erskine, was very good, from Malachi, ch. 
3 v. 16. : very few people there. In the ante-communion 
service, two canons, in surplice and Oxford caps, preceded 
by two vergers, in long black silk robes, each verger bear- 
ing silver wands, walked up slowly to the east end of the 
choir to the altar table ; the response to the commandments 
was sung delightfully. The sermon was preached in a sur- 
plice. In singing the creed, they turned around towards 
the altar. After church service, came to my hotel, Winns 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 15 

George, a famous old house, full of fine stair- ways, rich 
mouldings and old furniture, said to have been built by the 
Duke of Buckingham, as a residence for Charles Second, and 
they yet show a room with the original black oak furniture, 
and beautiful carving and richly stained windows, which 
was the king's parlor. 

Looked into some old churches, which seem as if time and 
armies had all attempted their demolition ; St. Helen's, the 
oldest, St. Olave's and St. Martin's. At 2, P. M., went to 
the Minster again, to be shown around by the verger. 
Whilst standing by the door, opposite Newgate street, wait- 
ing for the verger, plucked off a fine rosette of carved oak. 
Entered by the north transept, beautiful rose window, with 
marigold in centre, above the pointed arched window, which 
is injured ; a tomb, with canopy and eSigy of stone, near on 
the right of Walter De Grey, the first archbishop, yet per- 
fect in his robes. Beautiful stone screen of the kings of 
England ; from William I. to Henry II. in life size, with 
expressive faces. Henry VI. very fine face, and Coeur de 
Lion, with his palmer's scrip, all in royal robes ; above 
them is an exquisite canopy of tracery, almost too delicate 
for stone, crowded with vast numbers of beautiful and small 
angelic figures. The work is a miracle of art. The screen 
is opened by an iron gateway, into the choir. On the south 
transept is the splendid Maiden Sister's window, immense in 
height, of an embroidery pattern, still, after the lapse of ages, 
fresh and beautiful. In the right aisle of the choir, are many 



16 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

rare and antique monuments of bishops, and nobles, and 
gentry, some in brass and some in alabaster, all with effigies 
and very fine. The best are of the Wentworths, that of 
Wentworth and his wife is splendid ; of Italian marble, in 
full court dress ; exquisite sculpture of the lace, collars, 
frills, etc., and the satin robes ; then the son of Wentworth, 
the Marquis of Rockingham, in a Roman toga, with his wife 
as a Roman matron, is superb : it was sculptured in Rome. 
Near here, is a beautiful restoration of an ancient tomb, of 
an archbishop, whose effigy, though broken in the face, is 
otherwise perfect. In clearing away, under the great east 
window, which is crowded with the painting of the bible 
history, from the creation down, they discovered faces and 
outlines, showing old frescos, and also a niche just opened, 
with a painting of the Virgin and child, very ancient, and 
yet perfect. The floor here is paved with tombstones. 
The rear screen of the choir is of marble, beautifully work- 
ed. Then the beautiful altar-tomb of William Markham, 
the last prelate, new and exquisite, on a pedestal of armo- 
rial tiles, in rich encaustic ; on the left aisle are crowds of 
rare monuments. The left aisle is also full of monuments, 
some quite fine, and sculptured, all very old. In this aisle, 
near the organ-pipes, are two old quadrant-shaped chests, 
with antique hinges, used by the ancient chapter, for the 
monk's dresses. Near here are the steps and door- way to 
the crypt ; Norman arches extending the whole way below 
the Minster ; at the entrance is the lavatory, and near by 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 17 

is a well of pure water, whence our hotel and others are 
supplied. Here, also, are several immense Saxon pillars, 
and here they show the spot where the ancient wooden 
chapel of the Saxons stood, and where King Edward was 
baptized, on his profession of Christianity. I went a long 
way into the crypt. Here are gas fixtures, and it is often 
lit up with gas when the archbishop comes here, and also 
hot water pipes, to heat the choir church. Leaving the 
beautiful Minster, by the south transept, walked on with 
Mr. Lambert, a pleasant fellow-traveller, from London, 
whom I met here at the hotel, to St. Mary's Abbey, a very 
beautiful ruin, ivy clad, standing on the river Ouse, in the 
Museum grounds. Near the gateway to these grounds, is 
St. Leonard's Hospital, long since a ruin, but recently exca- 
vated ; the top is flagged, and a house and street stand upon 
it. This house is said to have stood here for two hundred 
years, and its fine Norman arches, and Norman bricks and 
stones, of which it is built, were never known till within the 
last year ; from this hospital in front, run the old city walls ; 
below, in the gardens, is an old Roman wall, full of the 
names and numbers of the legions, etc., with a fine round 
Roman tower. Then walked along the banks of the Ouse 
to the Castle, now a prison; it has fine Gothic arches. 
Clifford's Tower is now a rare and beautiful old ruin. Re- 
turned and walked around, looking at the old walls, gates 
and fair streets, and Market place ; almost every house and 

church looking always of reverend age. 

A 



18 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

May 3d. — Went to the museum, by an order from Mr. 
Thomas Winn ; fine collection and prettily arranged ; some 
antiques, tapestry, maps, and armor, and Roman altars in 
the vestibule. In the old house in front of St. Mary's Ab- 
bey, are some fine remains ; one, of a Crusader, on his tomb, 
a fine stone figure, cross-legged, about five feet six inches 
long; some castings from other antiques, Roman and Nor- 
man arches, from St. Leonard's, and figures of saints. 
Went to the Minster and to the Vestry, to see the curious 
antiquities which the guide book gives : Ulpha's Horn, the 
beautiful silver Cardinal's crozier, etc. ; then went up to the 
communion rails, saw the ancient coronation chair, of Saxon 
shape, wherein the Saxon kings were crowned, now decay- 
ing out. It is on the left of the communion table. Walked 
around the Minster ; it grows into the mind the more you 
look in the beauty of this light drab stone, contrasted with 
the rich colors of the glass ; the best view of the interior is 
from midway in the nave, a little way to the side looking 
toward the choir, and of the exterior, at the corner to the 
left of Stoney-Gate street. Returned to hotel, dined and 
started for Durham at 4, P. M. ; arrived at Durham about 
8 P. M. Drove to Ward's Waterloo Hotel. 

4th. — Rose early, walked round the tow^r before break- 
fast ; population said to be twenty-eight thousand. It is the 
most picturesque of any I have yet seen: it lies on both sides of 
the river Wear, a shallow but swift stream, which sweeps 
in many a sweet turn around the old town. It is crossed 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 19 

by three bridges, the Prebends, Franrwell-Gate, and St. El- 
vet Bridges. The view from the first bridge is lovely ; 
the rivejr bends towards you on the right, and on look- 
ing towards the town, rises the beautiful Cathedral, and 
a little beyond this the fine Castle, and before you, are the 
other two old picturesque bridges, and the red tiled roofs of 
the town, in the distance. On the left and right, slope, the 
grassy banks of the river, with many a pretty foot-path, 
and some fine old churches. Following the road from here, 
and about a mile off, is Neville's Cross, a ruin now. After 
breakfast, went up to the cathedral for the service, going 
through many quaint old streets. Entered by the gateway 
of the Cloisters, near the Deanery, and walking along for some 
one hundred yards, under fine Norman arches, reached the 
entrance door of the south transept. These cloisters extend 
around three sides of the quadrangle. On the north side is 
the Chapter Library in the building, used as the Infirmary, 
by the ancient monks ; in the centre, are the remains of the 
old Lavatory, standing in the midst of a large grass-plot. 
Entered by the north transept : it was now near service-time, 
which is from 10 to 11 A. M., every day. The verger 
showed me to a stall, twelve boys in white surplice, and 
twelve surpliced vicars ; choral soon came in and all took 
their places. A canon entered, and one or two vicar readers ; 
some eight or ten laity were about among the pews, in the 
choir, and then the service commenced. The music was 
fine, better than at York, although without an organ, as 



20 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

that has been recently removed beyond the pulpit, from near 
the choir screen, which has just been taken down. After ser- 
vice, walked around the church. There are but few monu- 
ments left ; that of the Nevilles, in the south aisle of the 
nave, is the principal antiquity ; Chantrey's statue of Bishop 
Barrington, in the south transept, of full size, kneeling, is 
very beautiful. Over the fine door here is an antique clock, 
of about the time of Charles II. The nave is more impres- 
sive than that at York ; its pillars are massive Norman, 
some thirty feet in girth, with a trecolium above ; near the 
south side door of the nave is the ancient sanctuary. The 
antique sounding board and font, raised by Bishop Cosin, in 
Charles the Second's time, is yet there. A new font, beau- 
tifully wrought in stone, and just finished, stands before the 
great door-way. In the choir, opposite the pulpit, stands the 
Bishop's throne, (Dr. Maltby is the present bishop ;) it is of 
stone, erected over and upon the beautiful arched and sculp- 
tured, gilded and illuminated canopy of Bishop Hatfield's 
tomb. Its panel has been much injured by the Scotch and 
the English Iconoclasts. Beyond is the beautiful altar- 
screen of stone, of exquisitely fine, pointed Gothic ; the gift of 
the Nevilles ; once, every niche of it was filled with statues, 
but the zeal of the Puritans tore them down. It has 
just been cleansed and again restored, though not with 
statues, by the taste of the present Dean, Dr. Warrington, 
whom I had the pleasure to meet in the nave. Behind the 
screen, is the famous shrine of St. Cuthbert, a plain large 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 21 

black slab with no inscription. Behind the east end of the 
church, or of the altar, and in the space called the Chapel 
of the Nine Altars, are some good monuments with marks of 
the ancient Catholic altars, a reading desk and some benches, 
where prayers are read by the students of Durham Univer- 
sity. Near the new font is the broad strip of black marble, 
the boundary line, which St. Cuthbert prohibited women 
from passing, as is said ; then ascended, with the verger, 
first, some eighty feet to the gallery of the lantern tower : 
the view of the church here is very beautiful ; a verger in 
his robe stood at the altar, and the figure in the distance, 
with the fine choir and the grand nave, made a beautiful 
picture ; then went up to the top. The distance from the 
river level up to this point, is about two hundred and fifty 
feet ; the top is some forty feet square, and roofed with 
lead. The view is superb, extending some six miles each 
way, over fine rolling land, the Wear sweeping around in 
many sweet turns, so that, but for a narrow isthmus, Dur- 
ham would be an island. Far as the eye reaches from the 
city, the chapter lands extend. Rail trains were flying afar 
off, collieries smoking in the quiet fields, and cattle grazing 
in the sweet hedge-rows and the bright sunshine. Just be- 
low me to the north, rose the fine castle with its noble keep, 
its flag floating ; to the south, the buildings of the Cathedral 
Close. Descended and went into the Library ; Mr. Raines' 
librarian, showed me some fine Illuminations. The room is 
rich in manuscripts ; saw the old copes borne in procession 



22 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

here till Warburton's time ; went to the Deanery, its en- 
trance-room is beautiful ; a Baronial hall, fine and curious 
octagonal kitchen, with separate kitchens for the monks, 
and their great oven, their almonry, all almost the same as 
left by them. Went over to the Castle, or Bishop's Palace, 
which, now, is also the present Durham University ; the en- 
trance-gate is grand. Went up the great carved oak stair- 
way, into the dining hall ; among others here, is a portrait 
of De Wellesley, brother of the Duke of Wellington. He 
is a canon resident here, and his likeness a fac-simile of the 
duke. It was just the lunch-time of the students, and after 
looking in the old rooms where the bishop and assize judges 
lodge, and at the fine old Norman doorway to the college hall, 
left for hotel ; lunched, and took carriage for Brauncepcth 
Castle, some four miles off ; anciently the seat of the War- 
wicks, but for some years past the property of William Rus- 
sell, Esq., a London merchant. It is restored in fine order; 
the exterior is stately, and a grand specimen of the old 
battlemented Gothic. The owner was at home and de- 
clined all visitors ; stepped over to the curious old church 
near by, the Nevilles' church. In the chancel lie Lord and 
Lady Neville ; the oldest church I have yet seen. A Cru- 
sader lies against the wall, in the north aisle ; a suit of 
plate armor answers for a stove or grate, with high carved 
black oak pews, centuries old, but still strong and stately ; 
Norman pillars, mouldy with age, and a curious old clock 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 23 

in the "west end. Came back to Durham, dined, and took 
cars for Newcastle, where arrived at 8, P. M., at Queen's 
Head Hotel. 

5th — Rose early ; walked about Newcastle. There is a 
fine new bridge building here ; Pilgrim and Grey streets are 
the best streets ; Nelson's monument and the Old Church 
are near by. Was out but for half an hour. Took quarter to 
ten train to Morpeth, some ten miles ; found the ltttle village 
full of strangers, for the great spring fair here, when the an- 
nual hiring of servants, according to the custom in this, coun- 
try, occurs. Took carriage on to Alnwick, twenty miles, 
over a beautiful rolling country, with fine views, through 
neat hedge-rows and a fine road. Arrived at about half-past 
five ; leaving my baggage at the White Swan Inn, kept here 
for forty-three years, walked right on to the castle, from the 
entrance of Alnwick, and of Coney street, where is a great 
old stone archway, called Hotspur's Gate. This is the seat 
of the Percys. Entering the castle by the noble barbican, its 
battlements all around crowned with armed figures, the por- 
ter led me on to the armory of Northumberland, (the Duke 
mounted and armed seventeen hundred of his tenantry at 
the time of the French threatened invasion, the bloody gap, 
the dungeons, petards, heads of the stone figures, great oak 
door ; the Museum, the Sally Port, the various Keeps ; and 
walked on the walls still planted with cannon ; the base of 
the castle hill slopes sweetly to the Aln river, which sweeps 
away to Holme Park. Next went through the interior of the 



24 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

Castle through numerous chambers, all recently and superbly 
furnished ; finely moulded ceilings ; carpets similar ; crim- 
son satin tapestry on the saloons and baronial dining hall ; 
fine portraits in the superb saloon ; and the ceiling here is con- 
centric. An exquisite Gothic chapel and stained glass can- 
delabrum ; and tomb of the late duchess ; grand stairway and 
ceiling, moulded with shield of arms, and the standards royal, 
borne at the coronation of George IV., and herald trumpets of 
silver. The superb Library and other rooms, are made beau- 
tifully to follow the exterior shape of the towers, and are each 
of different color, and style ; the mouldings on the ceilings and 
window embrasures are in white and gold, the rooms and 
saloon are red and crimson ; library is in pale green ; break- 
fast room is of the color of ashes of roses ; dining hall is of 
blue, etc., and all arranged in suites; everything is in ex- 
quisite taste. The late Duke of Northumberland died a few 
weeks since ; the Dowager Duchess, whose miniature I saw 
in the saloon, had gone up to town a week before. The duke's 
real estates are managed by two Commissioners and twelve 
Bailiffs ; his income is said to be five millions sterling. On 
return, dined and took post chaise to Chat Hall, the next 
station ; this is the only break on the line of railway between 
London and Edinburgh. (The railway has been since com- 
pleted.) Heavy rain; got in the cars and arrived at Berwick, 
on Tweed, about 10, P. M. Town full ; slept at lodgings. 
6th.— After breakfast, walked about the walls of old 
Berwick. From the castle and Wellington Terrace, view 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 25 

of the North Sea and up the river Tweed is very fine. 
There is nothing of interest in the town. Took train at 
10, A. M., for Edinburgh, a beautiful ride. The North Sea 
is immediately on your right hand, for nearly the whole way. 
Passed Dunbar, Seton, Delaval, Preston Pans, Colonel 
Gardner's House and Battle field ; the old stone wall which 
broke the charge, at that action; the Thorn Tree, still 
alive, marking the scene of the greatest slaughter; and arrived 
at Edinburgh at about 12, M. Drove to the Waterloo 
Hotel, in full view of Scott's and Nelson's monuments ; 
walking about after dinner, went over Scott's monument to 
the top ; returned, and wrote letter to W. B. M., and re- 
tired; received an invite from Mr. H., of Drummond 
Place, to breakfast. 

7th.— Breakfasted with Mr. H. at 9, A. M. ; left about 
ten, went over through the Canongate to Holyrood Palace ; 
saw the old rooms Queen of Mary ; her beautiful miniature, 
and needle-work, and furniture, and very curious bed ; the 
Stuart pictures, the paintings of George the Fourth, of Mon- 
trose, McNab, Nell Gwynne, Albermarle, and Charles the 
Tenth ; from there looked through the fine Park, the old 
Chapel Royal, the Breadalbane Rooms, and then went over 
to Arthur's Seat, from which the finest view of the city is 
obtained, and then for beautiful Mid Lothian and Dudding- 
ston Loch; walked on, for a couple of miles, by the new 
road, on the Craigs, called the Queen's drive, to the pretty 
village of Duddingston; looked in the old church, quite 



26 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

curious, and looks pretty with the fine swan pond of Sir 
Robert Dick in front. Beyond, in front, on the hills, Craigs- 
muller Castle, and afar off among the trees, is the seat 
of the Marquis of Abercorn, the patron of this hamlet Re- 
turned by coach, passing by the Regent Terrace, Burns' Mon- 
ument, Calton Hill, etc., on to the Castle ; tramped around it ; 
saw old Mons Meg, the twenty-five pounder, and the Scotch 
Regalia, which are most superb, and so curious for their 
preservation. Went through the armory ; there are seven 
thousand stand of arms, nearly all of Waterloo muskets ; the 
76th foot are a garrison here. Came down from this grand 
hill to the Parthenon, or Gallery of Art, built in that style in 
Princess street, the next corner to Scott's monument ; there 
were no paintings there, but a fine gallery of casts ; drove 
off in Newington car, to Dr. James P.'s; not in town; left 
letter and card ; returning, walked around the Univer- 
sity of Edinburgh, and from the window of the Humanities 
Lecture Room, down College Wynd, saw the house where 
Sir Walter was born. He lived in George street. His last 
son, Colonel Sir Walter, who died lately at the Cape of 
Good Hope, aged about forty years, was brought here on 
the 5th instant, to be taken thence to Dryburgh. Came 
home to tea ; journalized and retired. 

8th. — Walked up South Bridge street to the University. 
The janitor showed me into the Senate Hall, a commanding 
apartment ; then into its library of one hundred thousand 
volumes. The lower story is arranged in recesses, crowded 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 



with books, chiefly on the Natural Sciences ; the upper 
story is a splendid vaulted room, some eighty feet long, the 
arch supported on either side by Corinthian pillars ; the 
books are in alcoves, lit by two windows, divided by the 
floors of the gallery, which is about two-thirds of the way 
up the pillars. The cases are painted in oak, protected by 
a rich lozenge-shaped brass screen for the doors, the arch 
of the ceiling is moulded in white and gold ; near the entrance, 
and under an archway, leading to a fine domed recess, 
stands an exquisite life-sized statue of Burns, by Flaxman, 
£ of thfts year, eighteen hundred and forty-five. Behind him 
is a large dining-table used by Napoleon at St. Helena, a"gift 
to the University. Next went to the Museum ; the lower 
rooms are crowded with animals of all kinds, stuffed and well 
preserved ; above is a beautiful room in the Grecian style, 
with domed recesses ; the side cases are mostly fine preserva- 
tions of birds ; the centre cases of geology ; many fine speci- 
mens, and most exquisitely arranged. In the centre is a fine 
bust of Dr. Jamieson, the Professor of Natural History ; ad- 
joining his private room, is an elegant sculptured marble 
mantel, with Caryatides, and flower work, of Carrara marble, 
bought by the University and brought from Italy ; and some 
few more cases. The University buildings are of freestone, 
and Grecian front with terraces and porticos in Corinthian 
style, standing upon a large square. It is founded mainly by 
the city of Edinburgh, who are its patrons. There are now 
about one hundred students in each of the four faculties ; 



28 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

the academical session has just closed, but the annual session 
of the medical school is going on. There are twenty-five pro- 
fessors ; attendance on all the lectures is requisite for a de- 
gree, at a cost of about one hundred dollars per year ; faculty 
and attendant students are resident in the town. Very 
rainy and raw weather to-day ; returned, read Raine's Dur- 
ham till time to go to Mr. H.'s, where dined, and spent the 
evening pleasantly. 

9th. — Sunday. — Went about 10, (looking in on the 
way at the old Sion Iron Church, the interior plain, and mod- 
ernised) to Free St. George's, to hear Dr. Caudlish, one of 
the leaders of the Free Church — quite a plain edifice. He 
is of short stature, animated face, much like our Van Bu- 
ren ; in broad Scotch accent, preached a finely arranged, 
digested logical sermon, from Matt. 6, v. 7. Returned to 
hotel, and after lunch, my friend L. joining me, he hav- 
ing arrived yesterday, we went to Free St. John's, to hear 
Dr. Guthrie, at 2, P. M. ; this church is new, and beautiful 
Gothic, something like St. Thomas's, New York, though 
more than twice the size ; discourse and delivery very fine, 
much finer than in the morning ; his mind is highly imagi- 
native ; text from Peter II., ch. 3, v. 12. There was an 
immense crowd ; the people during the intermission, which 
is from 1 till 2, P. M., did not leave the church, but have 
an intermediate service. Came home ; began letter to 
B., about Durham. L. came and spent part of the even- 
ing with me. 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 29 

10th. — Mr. Lambert breakfasted with me ; walked to the 
Advocate's Library, in the Parliament House ; a splendid 
entrance-hall, ceiling in oak, panelled, and fine statues. 
The library adjoins, in several halls, some one hundred 
thousand volumes and miscellaneous ; only an entrance fee, 
no subscription — books are well arranged ; in the first room 
is a pennon, borne at Flodden Field, a fine old Spanish cabi- 
net, with a bold relief in brass, as a representation of cour- 
age. Next opposite is the Library of the Writers to the 
Signet ; the lower hall is a fine arched ceiling ; the upper 
hall, Corinthian, with dome and arched ceiling, mouldings 
gilt ; the books are in recesses, brass net- work over them, and 
about one hundred thousand volumes — entrance fee seventy- 
five guineas, and no subscription ; books are lent out ; com- 
modious sofas, reading and writing-tables and desks. This 
hall is nearly as fine and something like the library -hall of 
the University of Edinburgh. Went out to the experimen- 
tal Botanic Garden, near Summer-Place, of about seven 
acres, a private association ; beautifully arranged, fine fruite- 
ries; hedges — some in blossom; the hot-houses had some 
curiosities. Next, near by, went to the University Botanic 
Gardens, of fourteen acres ; range of hot-houses of one 
thousand feet long, with high glass domes ; crowded with 
rare and original specimens, mostly in full bloom and vigor, 
arranged in the order of their countries and genera — Palm- 
house, Banyan-tree growing, throwing down its shoots, 
and the main root exposed, Cassias, Passion Flowers of all 



30 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

climes, Cinnamon-tree, Pitcher plants, Parasites, immense 
New Holland Heath, ten feet high, in full flower, and many 
others ; walked around the grounds, which are in delightful 
order. In the Gothic hall, near the entrance, Professor Bal- 
four teaches a class from the University, on botany, every 
morning now at 8, A. M. Weather very showery ; return- 
ed to hotel ; dined, wrote letters, etc. ; to-morrow for fair 
Melrose. Before going out to the gardens, went by an order, 
over the fine George IV. Bridge, to Heriofl's Hospital ; it is 
a rare old building in the style of Charles I. There is a 
new chapel, with fine glass stainings, fine old corniced room, 
original oak ceilings and wainscots ; looked into the school- 
rooms, one hundred and eighty boys are here now, poor or- 
phans principally ; they enter at seven years of age and 
stay till they are fourteen, and after they leave receive £10 
per year, for five years, from its fund. The governors have 
built other free schools lately out of the funds, so that they 
now educate over two thousand boys. Looked at the ancient 
kitchen, their neat dormitories, and iron bedsteads, their 
bath-room, etc. The boys came in for dinner while I was 
there — merry youngsters ; in the fine grounds about, 
many were playing at ball. They live here entirely, going 
out to see their friends only on Saturday afternoons, with a 
master, and coming back early before night. The funds of 
the hospital now are large, £60,000 or £70,000, mostly in 
quit-rents from the new town of Edinburgh, which ground 
J\r was settled by Heriojl for its use. 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 31 

11th. — At 8, A. M., took the Chevy Chase coach for 
Melrose, thirty-seven miles, and arrived at 12, at the 
George Inn, a very nice hostelry. Went over to the lovely 
abbey, the burial places of many of Scotland's kings and 
nobles, but a few rods off; it is fresh as of yesterday, 
with its exquisite carving. The tomb of Alexander the 
fourth, of Scotland, is in the chancel ; near by, the heart of 
Bruce is said to be buried. In a near chapel, lies the wiz- 
zard Scott. How full the abbey is of curious and fine car- 
ving, — clock temps (Charles I.,) ringing a bell for the hours, 
is on the south transept Tower. The Chancel windows are 
perfect and fresh — plucked some ivy and wild rose from the 
grass-grown roof of the south transept ; spent two or three 
hours there, then took Drosky and drove over to Dryburgh, 
crossing the Tweed in a skiff near Buchan Suspension Bridge; 
most lovely scenery in the walk from here, a quarter of a 
mile, and the view on the river is beautiful. St. Mary's 
aisle of the nave of Dryburgh, where lies Sir Walter Scott, is 
yet without a monument to his memory ; the cloister has one 
one or two fine windows ; the Chapter-house, some arches, 
and the rest gone ; trees grow upon its arches, and the ivy 
almost entirely covers it. It lies away in a quiet field, some 
distance from the road. Near the south side is an old yew 
of great age, a splendid tree ; plucked a branch, then drove 
over to Abbotsford. The Poet's house and tomb lie about 
equi-distant either way east and west from sweet Melrose ; 
went all through the house ; the entrance-hall has a fine oak 



32 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

ceiling, shields of Border Lairds, armor and flags from Wa- 
terloo, picked up by him; Rob Roy's sword, armor from 
Flodden Field and Bannockburn, Mosaic table of the style 
of Pompeii, pavement of the tesselated marbles from the He- 
brides, Erskine's original pulpit, crowds of rare armor, a fine 
fire-place, imitated from the Deloraine gate in the cloister of 
Melrose Abbey, and carvings from Melrose ; a copy of the 
Abbey aisle, arches lead to the armory of the mansion where 
are richly emblazoned windows. Here are the hat, etc. of 
Arthur Rob Roy, armor and sword of Sir William Wallace 
Napoleon's pistols, etc., and next to the drawing-room. 
Its ceiling and wood work are of cedar; its ebony chairs 
and cabinet are the gift of George IV. Here is Sir 
Walter's large leather armed study-chair wherein he usually 
wrote, and also fine paintingsof the family. Next to the 
grand library ; the rich oak ceiling is copied from Melrose, 
and the beautiful cases crowded with books. The Room 
is about fifty by sixty feet. In the recess here, stood his 
revolving table, and hung a silver lamp from Herculaneum, 
next to the exquisite Study with his writing desk, foot-stool, 
pistols, and spirit lamp, just as he left them ; fine gallery 
with library, the cabinet with his last clothes, and his 
swords, etc., which he wore for the Selkirk and Jedwigh 
associations. Walked over the grounds ; the most of these 
trees were planted by Sir Walter himself; from all parts 
there are fine views of the river ; the dining-hall is hung with 
gems of pictures, the head of Queen Mary after execution, 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 33 

of Fairfax, Cromwell, Charles the Twelfth, and a hun- 
dred others. Outside grows a fine bay tree, shading its 
balcony window ; plucked a branch ; came back to Melrose 
and spent the rest of the day in the abbey, going through 
the wall galleries, in the windows, and up the towers, and 
looking at beautiful Melrose Abbey till night ; retired early, 
fatigued with my long day's toil. 

12th. — Left fair Melrose about 7, A. M., passing Abbots- 
ford to Selkirk, in my drosky, driving along the Tweed, 
through Ettrick dale and Yarrow, and between the Lamer- 
moor and the Eildon Hills for seven miles. There is a good 
statue of Sir Walter at Selkirk. Took the mail coach here 
at 10, A. M., for Carlisle, rode on top -fine day — for fifty- 
six miles, arrived at three, (five hours,) through splendid 
scenery ; the same rivers winding all around. Then the bold 
Teviot Hills hem you in for miles with their black heath and 
cattle ; passed through Hawick, quite pretty. Langholm the 
seat of the Duke of Buccleuch, Shortdike, a toll-gate, the 
boundary of the two kingdoms, then the exquisite Eskdale ; 
crossed the river twice, passing Netherby Hall, the seat of 
Sir James Graham, with superb woods behind ; near you is 
the sweet Esk, then the river Eden, and at length reached 
Carlisle, a rather nice provincial town, castle and church, 
etc. ; drove through to station, got in the cars for Kendall 
at 3. 28m., P. M., arrived at Kendall about 6, P. M., at 

the King's Arms Inn. /V *X - 

I 

13th. — At half-past 8, A. M., took rails to Windemerre 



M DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

station, some throe miles from Bowness, the sweet village on 
the lake ; took carriage there ami went past Esthwaite 
Water, which is very pretty, to Coneston Lake, which is 
really beautiful. Lunched at the inn at the head of Cones- 
ton water, then past Lake Grasmere to Rydal water, and 
Mount; called upon "Wordsworth at the cottage ; he was at 
home, but his daughter was then thought to he dying of con- 
sumption, and so did not disturb him. It is a plain drab cot- 
tage in a mountain gorge, with the mountain of Skab Scar 
behind it : walked about the grounds ; there is a fine view of 
Rydal water from the Summer House ; his aged sister was 
riding in a little carriage around the door yard ; came back 
to Grasmere to Mr. Orvill's Cottage, with Mr. Francis G., 
who started with me from Kendal, a really beautiful box ; its 
dining hall like Alnwick, its saloon like Abbotsford, and call- 
ed Cottage Grasmere, passed the Braithay and Coray rivers 
that feed Lake Windermere. Then on to Ambleside, taking 
the Lady of the Lake steamer to Bowness, passing Dr. Daw- 
son's castle. Major, ^>,m of Bishop,'* Watson's seat; Pro- 
fessor Wilson's cottage, and dined at the Royal Hotel at 
Bowness, a capital inn ; took rails and returned to Kendal 
at 9, P. M., an exquisite day, spent amid very fine mountain 
scenery, more like our Catskill range, studded with fine 
country seats, and interlaced with glorious lakes. 

14th. — At about 8, A. M., took rails to Manchester, 
passing through the finest scenery in Lancashire, Moreombe 
bay, Lancaster, and its castle, so famous in the days of 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 35 

King John, and Preston. An Iron Master got in my car at 
Wigan ; his firm, he said, now employ six thousand opera- 
tives, at an expense of one thousand pounds per day ; he 
was a Director in the North British Railway Company; 
their capital is twenty-eight millions sterling, and their last 
dividend ten per cent. Shares low — worth two hundred and 
five, but sell now one hundred and fifty. Lunched at the 
Albion, Manchester, and took rails at twenty-five minutes 
past 1, P. M., for Sheffield ; fine scenery on the road, and 
highly cultured ; town is horrible ; drove through to Baslow 
twelve miles off. The country now rises into the grand 
peak of Derbyshire, with the loveliest of valleys. The 
Wheat Sheaf Inn is the perfection of a rural inn ; it is 
at the gateway to the park of the Palace of Chatsworth. 
Mr. Francis H., of New York came up to my parlor to see 
me; he was just then leaving for town. After tea took a 
delightful stroll in the neighborhood, through its quiet lanes, 
rich fields, and beautiful prospects. 

15th. — Started early in a pony phaeton to Thorn Bridge, 
to Mr. M.'s house, a fine old mansion ; was kindly received, 
engaged to dine and church with them to-morrow ; walked 
with Mr. M. over to Monsell Dale, a picturesque vale near 
by. Started back to be in time for the gates to open at 
Chatsworth Palace. Obtained an order through Mr. M. 
from Miss Paxton, to see the interior of the conservatory, 
then drove up to the north entrance of the palace. The 
house is some three hundred feet long by one hundred and 



36 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

ninety feet deep, of pure Ionic style; the ornaments are 
urns, and on the freize, a snake in the grass, the crest of 
Cavendish. The first room you enter is on the left side of 
the first inner court, and the whole stone work is of the same 
fine light drab color, much like that of Durham Cathedral. 
This room is called the Sub-Hall, and has a tesselated pave- 
ment, and a grand fresco on the ceiling, by Verrio, of Caesar's 
History. The slab of Derby marble on the centre table, cande- 
labrum, grand stairs of Derby marble and spar ; the effect of 
this room is superb ; next passed through a long corridor sur- 
rounding a second court. Here are antique busts, tesselated 
pavements from Pompeii, and Roman tombs. (Returning 
from Thornbridge passed the Earl of Newburgh in a low 
pony chaise, his servant walking at his side, plain coarse 
man ; his seat is Hassop Hall, near by and in view.) Be- 
fore entering this last corridor, passed through the ante 
room, with statuary of Venus in the Bath ; Dolphins sup- 
port it, throwing water into a large basin, with other foun 
tains on the sides. Hence into magnificent Painting Galle- 
ries, perhaps of five hundred paintings, large and small, 
chiefly by the masters ; a gem of Bacchus and Ariadne, the 
Monks at Prayer, Mercury teaching Cupid to read, some 
Watteau's ; Bolton Abbey, by Landseer ; portraits of the 
Duchess of Devonshire of the time of Charles James Fox, 
very sprightly and handsome ; of Lady Carlisle ; the Hon. 
Mrs. Norton, and of several of the dukes hang in the room 
used by the queen on her late visit here ; then to the chapel ; 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 37 

its sides are of cedar wood, with exquisite carvings, by Gib- 
bons ; gallery in the west end, opening on the State apart- 
ments, with deep recess in similar carving ; here are two chairs 
occupied by the Queen and Prince Albert at their late visit. 
The ceiling is one superb painting of the ascension of our 
Lord ; His face beams with benignity : hosts of angels hover 
about him, all of life size ; a glory falls on all ; the uppermost 
angel to the right has so divine a face as cannot be forgot ; 
it is by Verrio. On the sides above the cedar panels, is a 
splendid painting of Christ healing the sick, extending all 
around, all the figures of full life size like a Cartoon. The 
altar piece is in fine fresco, in a recessed arch of variegated 
Derbyshire marble ; within it is also a table of Malachite 
given by the present Russian Empress to the Duke of De- 
vonshire ; a grand altar ; brazen candelabra from Italy ; 
floor of tess elated Derby marbles ; no pews, but cedar 
cushioned chairs are arranged on the sides; then entered 
the suite of the State apartments, some six grand rooms 
running along the south front, one hundred and ninety feet 
in all in length. In the ante chamber, say of thirty feet, 
is a square painting of Titian's Venetian Council, and a 
portrait of Queen Mary of Scots ; Ruben's Rabbi ; Hol- 
bein's Henry the Eighth ; all in full size, and grand frames ; 
for the mantel piece are caryatides, great mirrors, and tesse- 
lated oak floor ; walls are of gilded leather, and an emboss- 
ed ceiling in white and gold ; drawing room of similar floor 
pavement ; walls of Beauvois silk tapestry ; and with grand 



38 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

candelabra ; the Belisarius, twelve by six feet in dimension, 
and other paintings. On a group of ottomans, lies a small 
medallion marble group of four angels fallen asleep, ex- 
quisite. L Here is the coronation chair of William IV., and that 
of his Queen ; in a corner is a small round table of Jasper ; 
in its centre is a moonlit view of Chatsworth ; and the border 
contains views of the Peak District ; the upholstery of the 
furniture is of the Beauvois silk, and the chairs of Canter- 
bury silk were bought of Manners Sutton ; next room, same 
floor, sides of Lyon's silk ; furniture likewise ; upholstery 
and ceiling in blue and gold. The dining hall, with carvings 
of dead game, by Gibbons, over the mantel and around the 
mirror ; and so on from room to room, each differing in 
grandeur, to the cabinet, where hang some exquisite Mosaic, 
done on laminated glass, a case of superb medallion minia- 
tures, also a glass case of wood carving, of a point lace col- 
lar and dead birds, by Gibbons ; his masterpiece ; all these 
rooms are adorned with his carvings ; the doorways face 
each other, and the view through the suite is splendid ; the 
windows, each of two sheets of plate glass, set in gilt, face 
the grand fountain, two hundred feet high. It would take 
q, volume to describe each room minutely; they are all 
hung with paintings by the Martins, Vandyck, Charles I., 
George IV., William IV., Duke of Devonshire, etc., set in 
elegant frames, gilded and carved with the flowers of the 
Peak. Next to the Library ; its floor is of tesselated oak — 
perhaps fifteen thousand books in superb gilt frames, and very 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 39 

choice — tables of Derbyshire spar ; grand revolving study 
table ; furniture of red morocco, a fine gilt gallery, and all 
around are secret staircases ; books in similar cases around 
the room j ceiling panelled in white and gold, with two ex- 
quisite medallion paintings, of the Night and Morning — Car- 
eA/ ra^a marble caryatides, and Jasper Vases ; ante room is full 
of books ; new imitated antique vases ; pedestals and statu- 
ary ; the Library room is sixty feet long. The arches of the 
doors here, as elsewhere through the house, are magnificent 
and lofty, of variegated Derbyshire marble, and highly orna- 
mented with garlands of flowers, etc. Next to the right 
hand is the double room of sketches, by the masters, and 
water color drawings ; not generally shown here are one 
thousand sketches, all finely arranged, in gilt frames, in 
suites according to the birth-place of the artist ; Roman, 
Bolognese, etc. There are portraits of Tasso, and Leo X. 
a Transfiguration, a figure by Murillo, in charcoal, on two 
squares, in red crayon, and over it some bandits, by Giulio 
Romano, and Salvator Rosa, and the dying Leo ; a Mosaic 
Pompeii table, and also one made of the Peak marble, and 
of gems ; exquisite painting of birds on brown paste-board ; 
in the State Drawing Room is a round Siberian marble 
table set with precious stones, in flowers, etc. Next went 
to the Sculpture Gallery of superb Derby stone, with vaulted 
apartments lit in the top arch ; at the entrance is the Dis- 
cobolus, Mars, and Cupid, Ganymede, Endymion, Cupid ex- 
tracting a thorn from the foot of Venus, is most exquisite in 



40 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

the God's expression of love and tenderness ; a divine 
Achilles wounded; Lucidora flying from discovery, (from 
Thomson's seasons,) by Gott, and also Lucidora descending 
to the water ; the Filatrice, Hebe, Bacchante, stretched on 
her breasts ; with serpent ornament, and a fine head of Apol- 
lo. Two great lions lie at the doorway, one erect, the other 
Bleeping; and this is not an enumeration of one half. All 
these superb statues, some copies and others, original, are set 
on porphyry altar bases, or granite pedestals. Next to the 
great and second dining hall, the floor is of tesselated oak ; 
ceiling is vaulted, and pannelled of oak and'gold ; one grand 
table of black oak, thirty feet long : here is the Queen's 
chair, a little elevated ; two richly sculptured white marble 
mantels, each supported by two Bacchantes of full size : two 
of the bacchantes are by Westmacott, the female pressing 
the grapes, is perhaps the finest ; four side tables, two at 
each end, of Siberian jasper, studded with gems. Bufletts 
and mirrors on the sides, with gold and silver, and superb 
candelabra ; next to the Orangery, (the exquisite bas-relief, 
by Thorwaldsen, of Night and Morning, I forgot to mention 
is in the Sculpture Gallery.) This, the orangery, is a 
grand glass apartment ; many rare species of oranges are 
here; on the wall is a Venus, etc., a beautiful original; 
hence to the hot houses of Camelias ; several hundred 
varieties in full bloom ; next under grand arches, and through 
an exquisite garden, laid out in the French style ; statues 
on pillars, which adorn the Fountain of the Court yard 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 41 

Colossi of iron, and vases from Thebes, to the Great 
Conservatory; a glass house, some sixty feet high, and 
roofed with ribs of glass, covering one acre entire, crowded 
with exotics, and each plant growing in its native soil : here 
are great Agaves, Palms, Oranges, and Vines of Passion 
Flowers running along the roof, and all within is arranged 
for drives, through which the Duke drove the Queen and 
suite in pony cars, on their late visit here nearly round the 
whole interior, and a gallery of light bronze work, fine pillars 
of bronze supporting it. The atmosphere is as that of the 
tropics ; the smoke of the furnaces is carried off by under- 
ground pipes over the hill near half a mile off, where 
also is the great Reservoir, sixteen feet deep, covering 
forty-one acres, which supplies the numerous fountains. 
On my way just past the house, on the south side from a 
height three hundred feet, near by the terrace and Temple 
and rock work the park keeper let on the water, and in a 
few minutes, it came tumbling and foaming down the Ter- 
races, passing at my feet for some one hundred yards to the 
Great Fountain, two hundred feet high, which soon began to 
play. Everywhere about the grounds are exquisite statuary 
and fountains ; near here is a grand staircase, leading to the 
rock work, near the Conservatory, lined with Irish yews ; 
on your left, facing the beautiful east front of the Palace 
rises a lofty Hunting Tower, on the summit of the hill ; 
embracing the Tower, and stretching away as far as the 
eye can reach, spreads a superb forest, now clothed in the 



42 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

richest and most finely varied spring verdue ; the eye fol- 
lows it till the vale is closed in by some of the far off hills of 
Derbyshire. Returning, walked through the Park, which is 
eleven miles in extent, enclosing several villages, and Game- 
keepers', Huntsmens', Gardeners', Grooms', etc. Lodges, 
built by the Duke, and some inns built by him. Passed the 
river Derwent, which flows through it; and some three 
or four hundred deer ; the duke is said to own two thou- 
sand. Came back to my inn, after having spent some five 
hours at the Palace, quite exhausted. The Duke of Devon- 
shire employs constantly to take charge of this Palace and 
Park, nearly three hundred persons. He has Chiswick and 
other seats in England and the continent, beside this ; he 
was then abroad — a bachelor — has not been at the Palace 
two weeks in fifteen months past, and certainly from these evi- 
dences of his taste, he is an English Lorenzo the magnifi- 
cent. 

16th. — Sunday. — Rainy. Drove over to Thornbridge 
and went with Mr. M. and son-in-law to Ashford Church, a 
handsome rural church, somewhat in the style of Durham 
churches, but quite plain; dined at Thornbridge, a fine 
place, house one hundred and fifty years in the family ; left 
about 4, P. M., to write letters, and posting them to Lon- 
don. 

17th. — Taking pony phaeton early, drove over to Haddon 
Hall, four miles hence, passing through the beautiful village 
of Bakewell. Entered Haddon by the old oak door of the 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 4 3 

keep ; there is the great hoop of the Beer Tun in the old 
porter's room : the Chaplain's room, with its old Buff Jer- 
kins, Boots and Matchlock of the times of the Common- 
wealth, etc., and used in the civil wars : the old cradle of 
the first Duke of Rutland ; the great baronial Dining Hall, 
with its oak rafters ; oak table on a dais ; Music Gallery ; 
great fire-place, and private dining room; oak wainscot- 
ing : rare carvings, with the inscription of "Drede God" — 
" Honor the King." Bay windows, Drawing Rooms in silk 
tapestry, wrought in time of Charles I. : curious old Chapel 
with a confessional on the north side, etc. ; ball rooms one 
hundred and nine feet long, with oak wainscots, and 
moulded ceiling. Boar and Peacock, the ruins of Vernon 
and of Rutland, on all the carvings. Here Queen Eliza- 
beth is said to have opened the first ball ; State Bed of the 
Queen's room, hung with the gobelin tapestry ; as also 
numerous Pages' rooms. Ascended to the Eagle Tower, 
then out by the doorway, whence Dorothy Vernon, ages 
ago " fled into the dark" with Sir John Manners ; walked 
along the ancient terrace, down the grand stairway, and by 
the stone steps to the sweet foot bridge, over the winding 
Wye. It is a rare old Baronial Hall in primitive condition, 
uninhabited for one hundred and fifty years. By Dorothy's 
marriage with Sir John Manners, it came to the Rutlands, 
who yet retain the old relics ; here are some good old paint- 
ings ; a Vandyck of Charles I. ; some by Snyder ; a few 
old chairs, one coronation chair of Henry VII., Saxoa 



44 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

shape, sadly decayed, and an antique copper wine-cooler, in 
the private dining room. Groped through the vast old 
kitchen, with its great Bread and Beer Bins, whence alms 
were freely given to the poor in the old hospitalities ; then 
drove on through lovely Darnley Dale to Matlock Bath, in 
a defile of Derbyshire, between the High Tor and Crag Tor 
mountains, through which flows the pretty Derwent — a 
crowded summer resort ; stopped at the old Bath Inn ; went 
down into a cavern some three quarters of a mile deep, 
with great chambers studded with spar and stalactite. 
"Walked to Willersley Park, the fine seat of Sir Peter Ark- 
wright, grandson of Sir Richard ; crossed Cromford Bridge, 
near his Cotton Factories founded by his grandfather, which 
are still in operation ; walked through his grounds, which 
are in terraced pathways, and some green houses on the 
river sides, to the little boat ferry, and returned to my Inn, 
dined, and drove back to Baslow. 

18th. — Rained all day. At home writing letters. 

19th. — Drove over to Chesterfield, eight miles, a smoky 
little town ; curiously twisted leaning church-spire ; at half- 
past 12, M., took rails, and by various stations passing 
through Tamworth, seeing the Towers of Drayton Manor, 
the seat of Sir Robert Peel, and a most superb country 
scenery, like a rich garden, to Leamington, arrived about 6, 
P. M., at this English Saratoga ; drove to the Regent's Hotel ; 
after tea walked about the beautiful town ; called at Lands- 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 45 

downe Circus, on Mrs. W. — gone to church — spent an hour 
with the family, and returned to Inn. 

20th. — Took carriage and drove to Warwick Castle, 
about two miles, in a lovely situation on the river Avon. 
Old Lebanon Cedars in the Park ; only some six rooms are 
shown ; none are so fine as those of Alnwick ; saw the 
Warwick Vase, and the Guy nonsense at the Porter's 
Lodge ; then to St. Mary's Church with its exquisite Beau- 
champ Chapel, and the rare and fine old monuments there ; 
the chantrey and hagioscope. The main church is after 
all, the most beautiful in proportion and general effect. 
Then, through a sweet country to Stratford, on Avon; 
went to " the house where Shakespeare was born," now 
the relic shop ; the Town Hall, where Garrick played on 
the great Shakespeare Festival, there is the portrait of 
Shakespeare in his study ; then to New Place, the poet's 
retirement of Stratford; the church is now newly fitted 
up, and quite handsomely ; but the monuments are un- 
changed ; after lunch walked over to Shottery, and visited 
the cottage of u Sweet Anne," surely old and quaint enough 
to have been Anne's : it was a lovely walk ; rode back, 
passing Charlcote House, still owned by the Lucys', and 
looking unchanged amid its stately oaks. The country 
about, though level, is perfectly beautiful ; returning, 
stopped at Leicester's Hospital, in Warwick ; the house is 
unaltered, and kept in good order ; this is a charity for 



46 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

twelve old soldiers : each receives £80, and a master £400 

annually, for life, a rare old place. Returned in the even- 
ing to Leamington. 

21st.— Took train for Town at 9. 25, A. M. ; got off at 
Kenilworth Castle; went clown and spent a little while 
among the ruins. The Gate-House — the ruined Banqueting 
Hall, and the view from the moat, are still the finest ; then 
went on to London. Arrived about 3, P. M., and drove to 7 
King Street ; called at Wiley's, and then off to the Re- 
gent's Park, 4 Fitzroy Square, and at Madame Tussand's 
in the evening. Came home about 10, P. M., with Charles 
W., of New York, whom I met at Warwick Castle. 

22d. — Rose early, and before breakfast walked into the 
Guildhall to look at famous Gog and Magog ; its fine Ban- 
queting Hall, Court of Aldermen and Common-Councilmen, 
Room for the City Freedoms ; there are some good paintings, 
and a fine ceiling in the Court of Aldermen. After break- 
fast, called at Charles Knight's, Ludgate Hill, not in ; left 
introduction. Upon St. Paul's steps met W., and we took our 
luggage and drove up to Miss Ayres, No. 4 Fitzroy Square ; 
then rode over to Grosvenor Square ; walked to No. 90 
Eaton Square, the Legation ; saw the Secretary, Mr. 
Broadhead ; Mr. Bancroft, was not at home, left letters for 
him, and promised to go to his reception to-morrow night ; 
then we walked out past Buckingham Palace, through St. 
James' Park, past Apsley House, Wellington Statue, Hyde 
Park Corner, over to the Horse Guards, in front of which 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 47 

met Mr. H., of Norfolk, England, and we together went 
into the fine old Chapel of Whitehall Palace, to see the ex- 
quisite ceiling by Rubens ; then by the grand Reform, 
Conservative, Oxford, and Cambridge Clubs, the new 
Treasury Buildings, and Westminster Hall ; then into the 
House of Commons, a plain, mean room ; could not get into 
the new House ; then to St. James' Palace, by order, to 
see Winterhalter's painting of the Royal Family, and the 
Prince of Wales. They were, of course, much flattered, 
but not equal to that at Liverpool, taken in eighteen hun- 
dred and forty, by the same artist. Then to the National 
Gallery ; spent but an hour among its two thousand pic- 
tures ; then dined together at the York or Farmers' Club, 
and after dinner went with H. to Covent Garden, to hear 
Grisi, Marini, Mario, and Tamburini, sing II Puritani, and 
Elssler dance the Ballet. The new house has six tiers of 
private boxes, and the pit is stalled and might hold over 
fifteen hundred persons. It is lit by one luxurious Chan- 
delier, colored, and its upholstery is of red and gold. 
The Stage is about eighty feet wide. Its general effect is 
very grand. Grisi, of course, sang superbly, with fine ac- 
tion. The scenery was beautiful ; chorus very large ; at 
a finale, perhaps two hundred were on the stage at once ; 
Mario's tenor is near perfection. Tamburini is getting old, 
and did not sing with his former celebrated powers. In the 
Queen's box, near which I sat, in the Parquette, was the 
Marquis of Normanfby, and suite. Opposite, the Duchess 



48 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

of Beaufort and her beautiful daughter, the Lady Blanche 
Somerset, and in the next box, was the Countess of Ayles- 
bury. ' The house was completely full ; but so beau- 
tifully arranged, that there could be no crowd, every par- 
quette seat, being an armed and cushioned chair ; price two 
dollars. Saw the first act of the Ballet of Salamandrine. 
Fanny danced as well as usual, but she looks vastly older. 
Left about half-past eleven, P. M. 

23d.— Sunday.— Went with Mr. and Mrs. H., to the 
Temple Church. It was very crowded ; got seats for the 
ladies in the choir, and contented myself on a sedilla, under 
the Nave Dome. The service is Cathedral-like ; the an- 
them was beautifully sung. The Church is a fine restora- 
tion ; the vaulted and octagon Nave, is identical with the 
Chapter House of York-Minster, with its fine proportions, 
encaustic tiles and its effigies of the Templar on the floor ; 
but it is much smaller, and has not the stainings. The 
Choir- windows are like Durham ; the ceiling and frames are 
in distemper, like York, while the East window is full of 
beautiful stainings. The Pillars are of black Derbyshire 
Marble ; and the ceiling of a whitish stone, like Durham. 

After dinner, walked with W. up to the Hyde Park, went 
over to the Achilles, and to Aspley House. It was very 
warm and dusty ; populace were out in great numbers over its 
green fields. Great procession of carriages, some four or 
five miles of them in solid column. After supper went to 
Bancroft's Levee ; very stupid. 






DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 49 

24th. — Started out with W., early; took Buss along 
Oxford street, down to the city ; went to the Tower. They 
are now building some new Armories, in a style like the 
old Tower ; went through the Horse Armory : being Whit- 
monday, there was a great crowd : twelve at a time were 
admitted with the Yeoman, including four soldiers, who 
have the privelege, but did not go with us. Kings and 
Knights are here, in full original armor, mounted ; the 
finest seemed to be Edward I., and Charles I., in his gilt 
armor. On all sides are men at arms, standing opposite to 
their masters, in what are said to be, original armor ; and 
armor beautifully arranged in stars, circles, etc.; also a 
fine preservation of horse and man, in complete chain mail, 
of the reign of Stephen, and of a Templar, of the time of 
the Conqueror. It was curious to observe the gradual change 
in armor, and how it was, by piece-meal, left off. The Iron 
Hauberk, was worn, down to sixteen hundered and eighty- 
eight. Passing up on the stairway, is the beautiful cannon 
of brass, finely chased, with the furies supporting the car- 
riage, captured at Malta, and with some others ; then into 
the small armory ; here is the cell of Sir Walter Raleigh ; 
on the doorway, cut as by a nail, in the stone, and said to 
be done by Raleigh, are the words — " He that endureth to 
the end, shall have a crown of life." The cell is about ten 
feet square, formed in the thickness of the wall ; in front is 
the Beheading Block and axe, by which Anne Boleyn, Bal- 
merine, and many others suffered ; in front of that is a 



50 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

curious matchlock and target of bullet proof and tempered 

steel, of the time of Henry VIII. ; the gun-barrel protrudes, 

and as you hold the target by the inner handle, the match is 

touched with a spring, near the hand. Here is the Skerin- 

ger's Daughter, and the thumb screws ; around the room are 

curious and rare weapons, from the early Norman reigns, 

down j and also an equestrian figure of Queen Elizabeth, 

as she appeared in procession after the Armada victory ; 

then to the Jewel Room ; the Regalia are well known. The 

Wine Fountain of gold, and Baptismal and Communion 

Gold-Plate, strike you more than the Crowns. Anne Bo- 

leyn's Crown and Ivory Sceptre, and the Confessors Gold 

Rod are of interest. These three rooms are all that are 

shown. Went down to the Tower stairs, so famous in all 

English History ; they look but little changed, from your 

imagination of them, when it was .the portal of despair to 

the noble victim ; and the landing place spread with cloth 
of gold for the earlier monarchs. The whole surrounding 

scene is unaltered. Took wherry and rowed past the steam 
packets and ships moored in the stream, and several docks, 
to the tunnel ; went down the staircase, a most weary de- 
scent, and walked half the way through ; it is on two arches, 
one of which is now being repaired, and extends from Wapp- 
ing to Rotherithe, the shipping quarters ; the arches are beau- 
tiful in shape, always lit with gas. Then into the boat again 
to Greenwich ; went to the Hospital, a most superb edifice of 
& centre building, and two immense wings, in white stone, 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 51 

and Corinthian style, with fine Domes ; entered the Dining 
Hall ; some seven hundred of the men sat at dinner, in their 
odd uniform of immense coats, with gilt buttons, and cocked 
hats, in what we term, revolutionary style ; then, into the 
Chapel of the same architectural style ; highly carved and 
concentric ceiling, with fine gallery ; the altar piece is a 
painting by West, of St. Paul at Malta, in his fixed man- 
ner ; one hundred and fifty figures of life size : the adoring 
wonder of the women on the right, and the calm air of the 
Apostle, are strikingly expressed. Pulpit is new, and of 
finely carved oak ; the room would hold over one thousand 
persons. Then, to the Gallery of Paintings ; the vestibule 
of this room, with its rich ornaments on the ceiling, and its 
frescos, is beautiful. There are many fine paintings; of 
course all are Naval : Nelson's Death ; the Battles of 
Aboukir ; and of Trafalgar, with many capital portraits of 
the Admirals, etc. Walked through some of the wards ; 
each is a ship's state room, in complete order ; each sailor 
taking entire charge of his own room. Saw the Royal 
Charlie Ward, and heard the old story over again of the 
escape of Charles II. ; then, into the large and handsome 
reading room, with full files of newspapers ; many old tars 
were reading there, and in the Library. Seven hundred 
and twenty men, and some fifteen officers in all, are here 
now. Walked over to the Park of the Hospital ; on the 
central hill is the Observatory ; the park and streets were 
crowded with the venders, visiters, and motley crowd of 



52 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

Greenwich Annual May Fair — like a New York Fourth of 
July : where was the vilest thimble rigging ; the leading sport 
seemed to be the rasping rattler, and in tumbling down 
the hills. Took cars home : it continued showering every 
five minutes till midnight. After dinner, went to the Music 
Hall, Storey Street, Bedford Square, to hear Wilson sing his 
Scotch songs again. He has failed sadly since'Jris visit to 
America ; he wears a wig and spectacles ; it was a mean room, 
not half filled ; admission but half a crown : sang his old 
songs and told his old stories indifferently ^w ell. Left at 
end of the first part, and returned home. 

25th. — Riding down to the city, went to St. Paul's ; the 

nave was filled with scaffoldings, prepared for the exhibition 

of the Charity Schools, of London ; and the choir was closed 

during the week. Went up stairs to the Stone Gallery ; 

looking east, up the nave, this view is the finest : the white 

marble arches, so highly ornamented, the fine choir, and 

the proportions of the vast building, fill the eye with a noble 

picture. Went on up to the Whispering Gallery ; the effect 

is perfect here of the fine dome and frescos : then up to the 

ball. The view of the city from the outer gallery, as the 

day was superb, was unsurpassed. Walked around the 

nave aisles admiring the statues : Chantry, Heber, Dr. 

Johnson, Sir Thomas Picton, etc. In the evening, at the 

Colosseum. The Cavern here is quite perfect; tolerable 

Swiss scenery. Then, into the Glyptotheca : circular and 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 53 

domed terrace : with some fine casts of Milton and his 
daughters, and a Magdalen, etc. In the lobby, is the 
" Infant Dreamer," by Wyatt, embodying the image of 
these verses : 

" Who can tell what visions high, 
May lighten e'en an infant's dream, 
Ere sin defile or error dim 
The glory of the Seraphim." 

Then, up the winding stairs, and through the great crowd 
to the Panorama of London, by moonlight ; the gallery where 
you stand, corresponds to the outer gallery of St. Paul's : 
and the picture is so perfect, that it is some time before the 
first illusion is dispelled. The shops are all lit up, and 
Cheapside and the Strand, stretch away, in far bright lines. 
The river gleams in the moon-beams, crowded as usual ; the 
Bridges are lit : Christ's Church Hospital is there ; New- 
gate Market is before you, and for miles away on all sides 
stretch the street lights. You listen for the carriage roar, 
and look for the throng of passengers in the streets, and it 
is some time before you realize that it is merely a painted 
city. They got up a thunder shower finely, and what 
seemed like an aurora, afterwards ; both however, were done 
very well. 

26th. — Rode down to see the Abbey, where met W., as 
appointed ; but took cab there for the Regent's Park Bar- 
racks, to visit a Bazaar opened to-day in the Riding School 
for the distressed Irish, in which the stalls were kept by 



54 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

the ladies of the aristocracy. It was opened by the Queen. 
When we arrived, paying a crown for our entrance fee, the 
Queen and her suite were within ; no very great crowd was 
present. On the right of the large Square, in front, the 
Horse Guards were drawn up, looking finely ; all six feet 
high, on black chargers, in their showy uniform; in front 
of the entrance, stood three bands on foot, and three mounted 
bands, playing. Officers of the Royal Guards on foot, lined 
the passage ; and a crimson cloth was spread from the door- 
way to the carriage. I got in the front, next to one of these 
officers near the carriages, and presently the bands struck 
up " God save the Queen ;" the Marquis of Londonderry, 
fine looking in his full uniform as Commander of the guards, 
with stars and orders, bowing and backing out in front : 
and then came the Prince and Queen in plain dress, said to 
be in mourning for the Archduke Charles, of Austria ; the 
Queen stood within a few feet from me for some quarter of 
an hour, and I had a full view of her. She wore a blue 
barege dress, and light green sherred bonnet, in rather 
bad taste. The outline of her face resembles her pictures, 
but she was very heated and haggard, and looked pimpled ; 
she is a lively, rapid talker ; exceedingly plain ; and scarce 
five feet high. The Prince Albert, on whose arm she leant, 
is fine looking, and just like his pictures. They both had 
bouquets in their hands, bought within ; and the ladies in 
waiting, were laden with the articles of the Fair ; some of 
these were very handsome ; all entered their carriages ; 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 55 

the Queen's was a four horse open Barouche, perfectly plain 
black, with postillions and outriders. I raised my hat like 
the rest, but there was no cheering, though all present 
seemed pleased. Next came the Duke and Duchess of 
Cambridge, old, but still fine looking, with the Prince 
George of Cambridge, who is young and handsome ; and 
some ugly little German Princes, all with their respective 
suites. After they left, we entered the room ; here were 
about a dozen stalls, covered with rich fancy articles, kept 
by over one hundred ladies of rank. The grand stall at 
the extreme right end, was kept by the Marchioness of Lon- 
donderry, a fine looking lady of about fifty ; near her, on 
the right, was her daughter, the beautiful Lady Alexandrina 
Vane, dressed in a blue silk bodice, buttoned with brilliants, 
set with diamonds; fine black hair, and large expressive 
black eyes, with an oval face and pleasant expression, her 
manner was agreeable; of her the Queen had just pur- 
chased one hundred guineas worth, as she said ; next to the 
Marchioness, in the stall and on her left, stood the daughter 
of Sir Robert Peel ; young and pretty — a miniature of her 
father — and some others, ladies of rank, all busy selling ; 
next, to the left was the stall of the Countess of Guernesy : 
she was dressed in a light colored spencer and a lace dress, 
good looking, and apparently about midway in life, with her 
daughters ; next, the Countess of Jersey, with her lovely 
daughter, the flower of the peerage ; the Lady Villiers who 
stood before her; with delicate and light complexion, blue 



56 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 



eyes, light brown hair, and arch expression, in a plain black 
silk dress with diamonds. Near here was the stall of Lady 
Loundford : her two daughters who kept it were two gems 
of beauty ; with dove colored dress, quite plain ; no bon- 
nets ; chesnut hair, blue eyes, fine figures, and some ex- 

A 
quisite brilliants and bracelets. Next, the little Hebes in 

the Fancy Stall ; and then the stall kept by the Duchess of 
Gloucester ; passing some more stalls on the right of the 
Lady Beauclerc and others, and of the Countess of Limerick; 
in front, was the stall of Mrs. Mountjoy Martyn, sprightly 
and still in her beauty, formerly a celebrated belle, and 
somewhat like Lady Villiers, though much older, and not so 
pretty ; and then the stall of the Marchioness of Clan- 
ricarde. These are not one half of the list. The crowd of 
buyers were mainly of the nobility ; the Duchess of Suther- 
land, still looking splendidly, came in leaning upon the arm 
of Hon. Mr. Howard, (Percy,) and the Countess of Ayles- 
bury, and many others, all superbly dressed ; the reigning 
mode seemed to be white worked lace skirts, with satin 
spencers of gay colors ; the room was crowded, and all of 
course seemed to feel at home. It was an unequalled sight; 
spent nearly three hours there ; left through the crowds of 
coronetted carriages for home. In the afternoon went to 
the Zoological Gardens, in Regent's Park. These are on 
a magnificent scale ; the grounds looked finely, clothed in 
their early verdure ; drove down to the city, and dined at 
home. 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 57 

27th. — Went out early to the Park of the Horse Guards, 
to see the review ; paid half a crown, got within the inner 
circle, near the staff. Here, in a grand square, were two 
thousand troops of the Household Guards, including the 
two squadrons of the Horse Guards, looking in splendid 
order. When I entered, three foot-bands, numbering about 
one hundred and fifty musicians, were marching around the 
inside of the hollow square, formed by their ranks, playing 
together the march from if Puritani, in superb style. To 
the left, and very near me, sat, on horseback, the Duke of 
Wellington, in full uniform, as Field Marshal ; his face is 
like his pictures, but his present uniform improved his ap- 
pearance wonderfully. He rode a fine charger. Next him 
was the Prince Albert, in a full Hussar uniform ; next, the 
Russian Grand Duke, Constantine, in a green uniform, 
young and slender ; the Duke of Cambridge, the Marquis 
of Londonderry, and others, all in splendid uniforms with 
their stars and orders. The troops marched and counter- 
marched before them. The two mounted bands of the 
Horse Guards, played, drawn up before them, and then all 
together marched off towards St. James' Palace. It was an 
elegant day, and the sight was superb. I followed them, 
and got a fine seat in a Balcony of the Palace-cham- 
ber, right at the gateway of the Color Court of St. 
James' Palace. It was the drawing-room, held for the 
Queen's birthday ; presently, a squadron of the Horse 
Guards drew up before me, with the grand double-mounted 



58 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

band, and, just inside of the color Court, were two 
foot bands. These played by turns for more than three 
hours, from about 12 o'clock, P. M., the review closing at 
11 ; the carriages began to come down St. James' Street, 
and continued in unbroken lines for over three hours. 
The equipages were magnificent ; the harness with heavy 
silver and gold mountings ; the horses of high blood and 
training ; the livery in every color of the rainbow : the 
carriage tops were studded with coronets ; the ladies within, 
were in full and magnificent dress, with ostrich plumes, and 
diamond tiaras of every form and style, in all several thou- 
sands. Next day's " Times" had over four columns of 
names of those presented. I watched them come and go 
for over three hours, from my quiet seat, looking down over 
the enormous crowd, who were kept in perfect order by the 
ranks of police, who formed a large open square for the 
carriages. It was interesting to see such perfect quiet, in a 
mass of several thousands, preserved by about one hundred 
policemen. 

In the evening walked through Regent Street, and by 
the Clubs and Waterloo Place, to see the illuminations. 
The streets were choked with the crowd. The illumina- 
tions were mainly in the Royal shops, and the Clubs ; 
chiefly with gas, arranged in stars, crowns, wreaths, and 
festoons, with the V. R. in the centre : Howell, and James' 
shop, in Waterloo Place, whose Balcony of fifty feet in 
length was festooned in gas light, and Holme's shop, like- 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 59 

wise, and one opposite, with the censer lamps of the Clubs, 
and the grand Star wreath and Crown in colored lights, 
on Her Majesty's Theatre, were the finest. The gas 
formed a brilliant and steady illumination. 

28th.— Went out about 11, A. M. Called at Mr. L.'s, 
32 Tavistock Square, then at R.'s ; then drove down to 
Dr. Mackenzie's office, No. 4 Queen Square, Westminster ; 
after a pleasant chat and lunch, his clerk went over the 
Abbey with me. The guide showed us through the various 
smaller Chapels very hurriedly. James Watt, by Chan- 
trey, Shakspeare, Southey, Major Andre, Canning, Dry- 
den, Wolfe, Mansfield, and the Roman Figures behind this, 
struck me as some of the finest, in my hasty view ; service 
was commencing, and we went in the choir. It is plainly 
fitted up : the service was not as well sung as at Durham. 
Admired the Roofs of the Nave, Choir, and Transepts. 
Weather to-day is very warm ; over 80° in the shade, and 
the Regent Quadrant is crowded with carriages. Came 
home ; evening at a Sociable at the house, given by the 
Misses Ayres, to the guests ; very pleasant affair. Mr. 
and Mrs. Bancroft called on me in the afternoon. 

29th. — Went out about 10, A. M., and called on Lord 
Brougham, at No. 4 Grafton Street, New Bond Street. 
Sent in introduction ; he was occupied at the moment ; go- 
ing to leave town in a few moments. Sent out his regrets, 
and requested me to call on Monday, before 11, A. M. 
Then went to R.'s, who gave me a tasting order for 



60 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

the Wine Vaults of the London Docks. W. met me 
here, and we went together to the Docks ; calling on C, 
in Austin Friars, by the way. Walked some quarter 
of a mile along the Quay to Cooper's East Vault. There 
are eleven other Wine Vaults in this Dock, but not so 
large as this, which covers eleven acres. Took guide and 
lamp and walked over it ; it is always lit with lamps, 
and is of stone, arched and passes under several streets. 
The floor is about of the river level, and ten feet be- 
low the quay-top, or street-level. All the passages or streets 
in it, are railways, and on all sides are casks of wine ; the 
oldest here is twenty-six years old. Only Port and Sherry, 
and mainly the first, are kept here. We, of course, tasted 
the Port, which was very fine — and the Sherry. Returned 
home to go to the Opera with R. and wife, to hear Don 
Giovanni at Covent Garden, sung by Grisi, Persiani, Al- 
boni, &c. ; a triple Orchestra and double chorus ; had a 
box in the second tier. Persiani did not sing as effectively 

as Grisi. The general effect with such uncommon power, 
and new appointments, was surprisingly fine. The Queen 

and Prince, with suite, were there, and remained until the 

Ballet. 

30th. — Sunday — Went to the Chapel of the Foundling 

Hospital. The proportions of the room are very fine ; its 

size is about that of Whitehall, and is of Corinthian style. 

The music, with the anthem of " The heavens are telling," 

by Miss Rainsforth and some two hundred and fifty of the 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 61 

children, was beautiful. The Chapel was crowded ; we 
had a good seat in a friend's pew, and an excellent sermon 
on the Trinity, by the Chaplain. Waited a few moments 
after service, and saw the children go to dinner ; one of the 
youngsters saying grace before them ; then into the girls' 
room. About three hundred children, neatly dressed, 
healthy, and happy, are supported here till twenty-one 
years of age, and, if sick, come back here afterwards ; 
this is the famed charity of Captain Coram. Walked 
through the fine Council-Rooms, where are some choice 
paintings ; the Magi, Hagar, Pharaoh's Daughter, Ho- 
garth's March to Finchley, and to the Dormitories, Lava- 
tory, &c, all in perfect order and neatness, with some ele- 
gance. 

After dinner drove about Hyde Park, with the ladies in 
Mr. C.'s carriage ; made a short call on Mackenzie in the 
evening. 

31st. — After calling again on Brougham, who had left 
for the House of Lords, to sit on appeals, leaving a mess- 
age for me to meet him in the House, and an order for to- 
night ; returned home, and went with Mrs. H. and Miss 
L. to the House. After passing through the great crowd, 
entered the grand vestibule ; the inner one is paved richly 
with encaustic tiles ; in the Royal motto, and three Lions, 
in gold and crimson : high florid Gothic windows, richly 
stained, and ceiling emblazoned in gold and crimson. The 
door-arch is gilded, and, with numerous figures of Lions 



62 L»IARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

and Unicorns, richly done ; the door itself is of polished 
brass, full of rich tracery of figures ; the view hence of 
the room is superb. Its ceiling is some eighty feet high, 
covered with gold ornaments, and richly emblazoned pen- 
dants ; long, florid Gothic windows stretch down the sides 
to the tiers of red morocco seats on each side. At the 
lower extremity, about sixty feet off, is the throne, under a 
rich Gothic Canopy of Crown and Dome ; a mass of gild- 
ing and ornaments standing upon a Dais of four steps, 
which are covered with a crimson carpet, bearing the Royal 
Arms. Before this is the Woolsack — an immense oblong 
red ottoman ; on this lay the gold Mace and Purse, and 
before this is a long oak table, at whose end sat Lord Cot- 
tenham, in his robes as Lord Chancellor ; on his right was 
the Clerk of the House, on his left, upon the front bench, 
behind a small writing-table, sat Lord Campbell and Lord 
Brougham, the only Lords present. Beyond, at the bar, 
and facing the throne and the Lord Chancellor, were the 
three counsel engaged in the argument of a cause of the 
Great Western Railway, on appeal from Queen's bench. 
I sent my card in to Brougham, and was immediately shown 
through a fine side lobby, on the right to the Robing Room 
of the Peers, which is superbly finished in the same style 
as the House ; it is just immediately behind the throne. 
In a few moments the Chancellor stept out, passing me, his 
pages bearing his train, and Brougham came in. He was 
affable in his manners, spoke much and with great interest 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 63 

of our New York constitutional convention ; regretted that he 
had not received any documents yet ; made numerous inqui- 
ries as to our judiciary reforms ; wished me to attend the de- 
bates at 5, P. M., of his House, and would introduce me on 
the floor without any order, and also to attend a meeting of 
the Law Amendment Association, at 21 Regent Street, on the 
5th instant, at 3, P. M., where he presides ; and then in- 
troduced me on the floor of the House, and gave me a seat 
on the throne steps. He was dressed in plain drab — care- 
lessly — his hair is white, though yet full ; face is like the 
pictures. The Chancellor soon returned and he had to 
take his seat. I waited awhile ; the counsel grew tedious, 
and I joined the ladies, and put them in a cab ; went to the 
city. Received letter from S. N. D., (May 13th ;) spent 
some time with D. ; at 4, P. M., mounted saddle horse, 
with Miss L., with groom, and had a splendid ride through 
Regent's and Hyde Parks, and a gallop over Kensington 
Green. It was a fine day, and a great crowd was out ; 
evening at home. 

June 1st. — Went down to the city, morning; bought 
writing case, etc. ; wrote to S. N. D. S. and C. ; evening 
with Herman, 40 George Street ; engaged to meet him 
to converse in German and French ; the rest of the eve- 
ning spent in a pleasant visit at Mrs. A.'s, 37 Gordon 
Squares. 
2d. — Went through the Tower and Tunnel, walking 



64 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

across to Rotlicritlic ; pleasant day ; lunched at Mrs. A.'s. 
Evening met first at Mr. Herman's, as agreed. 

3d. — Started with Mr. B. and wife, and other ladies, by 
Paddington Rails to Slough, and then took Barouche, driv- 
ing through Windsor Park, passing the Castle, Eton Col- 
lege, the Statue of Charles I., and Virginia Water, to Ascot 
Heath. Left our carriage and went upon the Grand Stand, 
really a four story hotel ; below, was the lawn ; on the left, 
was the Queen's Stand, and beyond it many other Stands. 
On the right is the New Mile Post, where stands the Start- 
er ; in front of the Queen's Stand, is the judge's box ; the 
course is about tATO and a half miles around on a flat heath ; 
but very few booths ; the people were crowding around the 
track. On this Grand Stand were many of the Nobility. 
I recognized the Marchioness of Londonderry, and the 
Lady Vane, the Countess of Limerick, the Countess of 
Guernsey, and the Countess of Jersey, and several others ; 
at half-past one, the Royal party arrived. First came the 
Earl of Errol, Master of the Buckhounds on a superb 
white horse ; then several huntsmen in scarlet livery ; then 
six carriages, each with four horses, postillions, and out- 
riders ; the Queen, with the Duchess of Kent, Prince Al- 
bert, and the Grand Duke Constantine, sat in the second 
carriage, etc. Amongst the ladies, in the carriages, were, 
the Duchess of Sutherland and her daughter, the Lady 
Leveson Gower, and with them the Prince Leiningen. 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 65 

They drove slowly through the track. The Queen wore a 
pink bonnet, and dress, with feathers ; the carriages were 
plain and rich, open barouches, and the livery of scarlet ; 
the Prince wore the Windsor uniform, blue, turned up with 
scarlet ; it was, together, a fine sight. As soon as they occu- 
pied their stand, the races began. Not half the horses that 
were entered, actually ran. The finest run, was that for the 
gold and silver vase, presented by Nicholas, of the Russias. 
Seven horses, out of forty that were entered, ran ; the 
horses were fine, and the race well run ; Hero, winning by 
half a length. The vase was placed on a pedestal in front 
of the Queen. Her Majesty's silver plate in one of the 
lower rooms ; the subject of which was, a " Stag hunter at 
the death," ornamented with chasing in relief, was next run 
for. There were one mile heats, every half hour ; but none 
of the running was equal to Chester, and that course is far 
better. In the wings of the Queen's stand, was a great 
crowd of the nobility ; but there is no position here whence 
you can see the whole course, as at Chester. It is more 
like our Union Course, Long Island, and were it not the 
fashion, none would go to Ascot Heath. 

4th. — Called on Charles H. D., of 24 Baker street, with 
the introduction of N. P. Willis. We started out together, 
and walked through the park, and to Westminster Hall ; 
went into the Roll's Court; Lord Langdale was on the 
bench, and Barristers were arguing ; then, into the Lord 

Chancellors' Court : Cottenham was on the bench, the purse 

5 



66 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

and mace before him ; then, to the Vice Chancellor's Court, 
crowded like the rest ; then, to the Queen's Bench : Lord 
Denman was presiding ; and then, to the Bail Court, just 
adjoining ; then to the Common Pleas, where Sir Thomas 
Wilde, Chief Justice, was presiding ; all the Court Rooms 
are small; the tiers of benches, scarcely enough for the 
bar, are all in a line on the south side of the Hall, excepting 
the Rolls and the Chancery, which are on the second floor. 
The Equity Judges wore the Clerical black gown ; the Law 
Judges, purple gowns, with ermine facing, and capes ; the 
wigs of horse hair, differ according to degree ; heard por- 
tions of arguments ; they were no better than at home ; the 
Queen's Counsel and the Sergeants occupy the front benches. 
Heard them in the Common Pleas ; their style was flippant, 
and small ; attorney -wise ; coming out of the Courts, walk- 
ed down to the river, passing the Milbank Prison and oppo- 
site to old Lambeth Palace. Returned, to go again through 
the Abbey ; found the Artists there as usual, painting in 
every corner ; spent some hours there. Evening, with Her- 
man — French. 

5th. — Went off early, with Mrs. A., and other ladies in 
their carriage, to Dulwich ; spent an hour, or more, looking 
over this collection ; here are near fo|ir hundred paintings, 
by the masters ; a great many of Cuyp's landscapes, 
Tenier 's, and Claude's ; a fine snow scene, by Cuyp ; and 
also, a number of beautiful cattle pieces. The original 
" Spanish Flower Girl," by Murillo ; also, by him, two 






DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 67 

pictures of Spanish boys, one chewing a crust of bread. 
Several Guidos ; a girl looking from a window, by Rem- 
brandt ; a Magdalen, by Annibal Carracci : Christ cruci- 
fied, by Guercino, and the weeping Marys following ; John 
preaching, by the same artist ; a divine Mater Dolorosa, 
with the living tear drop on her cheek, by Carlo Dolci ; an 
exquisite portrait of William Linley, by Lawrence; and 
many other gems, all finely arranged in a well lit gallery. 
This is called the collection of Sir Francis Bourgeois, be- 
queathed to him by Desenfans, who was painter to King 
Stanislaus ; and were left by Sir Francis to this College, 
which was founded by Alleyn the actor, in Shakespeare's 
original Southwark company, for the support of twenty-four 
poor persons, and is kept up as of old. The ride through 
Camberwell thither, is beautiful. Returned, went to 21 Re- 
gent street, and attended, by Brougham's invitation, a meet- 
ing of the Law Amendment Society ; some one hundred and 
fifty persons were present. Lord Brougham, on taking the 
chair, made a long address, on the abuses of the present sys- 
tem of Conveyaneing, and on Constructions of the Statutes, 
and the benefits derived from the labor of his Society, this 
being its anniversary. He speaks rapidly, with abroad Scotch 
accent, but from a clear and full mind. Lords Ashburton 
and Campbell, were Vice Presidents. The Earl of Devon, a 
former Master in Chancery, seconded by Lord Yarmouth, 
moved the first general resolution. The Duke of Cleveland 
spoke ; Lord Eglintoun, (of tournament fame,) was moving 



68 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

the next resolution, and promising to be very dull, and more to 
follow ; so, after spending an hour there, I went out, and over 
to Leicester Square, at the Walhalla ; saw three or four of 
Warton's Groupes Plastiques. The Angel discoursing with 
Adam, was the best. In the evening called at Mackenzie's ; 
couldn't go to Garrick's Head, his son just come from Paris j 
then called, pleasantly, in Tavistock Square. 

6th. — Went to St. Pancrafs Church with Mr. A. and L. 
^t is large ; somewhat like our Saint Bartholomew's, but 
twice the size ; a fine organ, and very crowded : dull 
sermon ; afternoon, wrote to D., and to Paris ; and at 
6, P. M., went to Gordon Square, to a dinner party ; a 
pleasant affair. 

7th. — With Judge Gamble, of Georgia, took cars at 

Nine Elms Station, for Richmond ; and thence sauntered 

through Bushy Park to Hampton Court. The scenery, the 

whole way is delightful ; the park is over a mile through, 

with its fine horse chesnuts, twelve deep, on either side, and is 

one of the noblest in England. Drove up to the Old Lion 

Gateway, built by George II ; still beautiful ; walked 

through the fine grounds, to the east front of the Palace. 

It covers eight acres, is built of red brick, and faced and 

ornamented with marble ; this front is over one hundred feet 
high. Passing in through the old Gateways, Courts, and 

Corridors, entered the Galleries : here are over one thousand 

works of the masters ; nine or ten rooms full, besides, the 

euperb Cartoons, and the exquisite tapestry, and water 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 69 

colors, depicting Caesar's triumphs ; then went into the 
Great Hall, which is very high — Gothic, of oak, and gilded 
roof; with pendants, and stained and storied windows, with 
Wolsey's arms, name ; and those of Henry VIII, and his 
wives, hung with Wolsey's Banners, and wainscoted with 
arras, stone floor and dais ; a Music Gallery, richly carved, 
and recently restored ; the taste of the whole, is admirable. 
Walked about the old palace, so full of Wolsey's genius 
yet ; some fifty gentlewomen are now supported, and live 
here upon the Royal Purse ; saw the old Grape Vine, some 
seventy-nine years old ; its longest branch is one hundred 
and ten feet in length, in a glass house, apart and near the 
Orangery — of the black Hamburgh grape. They have 
plucked over two thousand bunches from it at once ; on the 
twentieth of last February, they supplied the Queen's table 
with fresh grapes, from this vine. Walked about the gar- 
dens and into the Maze : it was a delightful visit. Home, 
by the omnibus to Regent's Circus. Evening — German, 
with Herrman, 

8th. — Taking the Slough rails and omnibus, went to 
Windsor, and went into the Chapel of the Knights of the 
Garter, one of the most beautiful in England. Entered by 
the south transept door ; the roof and arches are groined 
and studded with the Royal Insignia: the Fleur de Lis 
Portcullis, the White and Red roses, the stars of the Order, 
and Escutcheons, all in gold and different colors. The 
great west window, stained with figures of the Knights of 









70 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

the Order, perhaps two hundred in all, in full costume, is 
superbly done : it is about sixty feet high by forty in width. 
On the left hand here, near the west entrance, is the ex- 
quisite Beaufort Chapel ; full of fine statues and effigies of 
the family, with gilt roof like the nave ; two long and 
topaz-colored windows light it ; the banners hang over the 
tombs ; and near the entrance on the left hand, is a niche 
and reading desk, for the prayers : and a finely gilt fleur 
de lis railing encloses it. Upon the opposite side, behind 
such a railing, and lit by two superb lancet windows, one of 
topaz, and the other of amethyst; and under a ceiling 
groined in a demi-sphere, with emblazonings, is the tomb of 
the Princess Charlotte, one of the finest monuments in 
England; executed by Sir James Wyatt. In the back 
ground, the curtains of the tomb are disparted, wide and 
richly folded, (so true, that it needs reflection to believe 
them of marble,) showing the marble archway, from which 
the life size figure of the Princess, is rising in her shroud, 
which is thrown back in graceful folds ; transport is on her 
face, her right hand rising upwards, and the left extended 
behind, as if winging her upward flight and putting away 
mortality. On either side of her, and kneeling on the first 
step at her feet, are two angels, as if just alighted there, 
looking up to her with affection. Upon the second step, 
in front, and covered with a shroud, lies her mortal body ; 
below, upon the last step, kneel two enshrouded figures of 
mourners, weeping over her mortal body. The figures are 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 71 

all full of life. The position of the lower figures, although 
enshrouded, and their sculpture is so perfect, that it needs 
not to show the face. The expression of the Princess is of 
calm security of bliss ; the kneeling angels have this united 
to the expression of joy on receiving her to their company. 
The group may be in all, twenty feet high, by fourteen in 
width, of the life-size, and complete. Walked up the nave, 
with its great arches, so rich in gold and blazonry, and so 
rarely proportioned. Does not all remind one of the case- 
ment of that glorious Chapel in St. Agnes' Eve V Look 
east ; there is the organ loft, supported below by con- 
centric groinings, in mouldings unsurpassed ; and the choir 
screen, of rare iron work; and the organ itself, with its 
pipes emblazoned in gold and scarlet ; its gallery, on the 

* " A casement high and triple-arched there was, 

All garlanded with carven imageries, 

Of fruits, and flowers, and bunches of knot-grass, 

And diamonded with panes of quaint device 

Innumerable, of stains and splendid dyes, 

As are the tiger-moth's deep-damask'd wings ; 

And in the midst, 'mong thousand heraldries, 

And twilight saints, and dim emblazonings, 

A shielded scutcheon blushed with blood of Queens and Kings. 

Full on this casement shone the wintry moon, 
And threw warm gules on Madeline's fair breast, 
As down she knelt for Heaven's grace and boon ; 
Rose-bloom fell on her hands together prest : 
And on her silver cross, soft amethyst, 
And on her hair a glory, like a saint 
She seemed a splendid angel, newly drest, 
Save wings for Heaven." 

Eve of St. Agnes— Stanzas, XXIV. and XXV- 



72 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

nave side, is a forest of carving, of black oak : and then the 
choir itself. All around are superbly carved and black oak 
stalls, each hung with the crown or coronet, helmet, hauberk, 
sword and banner, of King or Knight of the order, from the 
Sovereign, down. In the centre of the choir, under a leaden 
monogram, is the tomb of the Kings of England ; before 
you, and over the altar, is West's famous painting of the 
Last Supper ; and then, the great East Window, in solemn 
and full tints, presents the Transfiguration of our Lord ; on 
the left of the altar table, and about twelve feet in height, 
stands a screen of beautiful steel work : above this are two 
closets, screened and windowed, one in carven oak, and the 
other of stucco, for the Queen and her attendants. The 
roof of the choir like that of the nave, is rich in all 
emblazonry. The windows in the choir aisles are in rare 
stainings, after the antique, and covered with quaint in- 
scriptions ; and the side chapels contain some fine monu- 
ments. In the right aisle, outside of the south corner of 
the altar screen, in a niche, and fastened by a chain, is a 
black letter bible ; under it, also in black letter, is the 
inscriptton, that — " the Bishop of Shrewsbury had placed 
this book here for godly meditation, and whoever shall read 
it aright, shall have forty days pardon ;" after the antique : 
beloAV, on this aisle, and protected by a glass screen, are 
some paintings of the era of Henry VIII., representing the 
Meeting at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. The organ of 
superb tone was playing whilst I was there ; and the choir , 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 73 

of some rare voices, were singing the anthem of " 0, go your 
■way into his gates, with thanksgiving, and into his courts 
with praise." I then went through the State rooms of the 
Palace, the Waterloo Gallery ; the Grand Chamber, where 
hangs the tricolor over Wellington's bust, annually renewed 
as the tenure of the Duke's manor of Strathfieldsaye, a 
part of the foremast of Nelson's flag-ship, " the Victory ;" 
with the bust of the Admiral, and the walls studded with 
armor, well arranged ; and then, into the State drawing 
room : a blaze of gilding, of immense height, with vaulted 
and pannelled ceiling ; the sides, like those of the other 
rooms, are covered with exquisite Gobelin tapestry, which 
are set like paintings in rare mouldings, depicting the story 
of Queen Esther, with figures of the life size. One room is 
full of paintings, by Zucharelli ; one, of the paintings of 
Claude; one, of Titian's ; but, excepting the Gobelin tapestry, 
and the drawing room, they do not equal those at Chatsworth. 
Went up on top of the great Round Tower ; hence, the 
view is superb ; the parks and the long walk, stretch miles 
away; below you is Eton College; and on the left, 
the winding and beautiful Thames, now filled with club 
boats, preparing [for the regatta ; Windsor Tower is at 
your foot, and Richmond afar off. Obtained an order to 
see the Royal Mews : went through them all ; near forty 
stables, arranged in courts, with ante rooms, and saddle 
and harness rooms to each ; clean as parlors ; paved with 
stone, and of oak ; and lit with gas, and warmed ; here 






74 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

"were some one hundred of the best horses, the chil- 
dren^ ponies, and several Arabians, sent as presents. 
The Queen's favorite, Comus, on which she is so often 
represented in pictures, Achmed and Dido ; stand in oaken 
stalls, apart; each stall some six feet wide, stone floors, 
with clean straw, and grating ; their cribs faced above with 
slate, and rollers on the edge, with chain halters on each 
side of the mouth, and groomed smoothly as satin : all the 
rooms are arched and ventilated at the roof and sides ; and 
a brick paved walk, eight feet wide, with handsome closets, 
and bins : looked at the carriages, which are not showy, but 
plain and rich: adapted for Posting J for the Park; for 
Ascot ; for the road, and for the street ; and phaetons of all 
kinds ; the finest of all is the Queen's travelling carriage, 
with moveable bed, extending through to the forward boot, 
lined with blue velvet, and with drawers and closets, like 
that of Napoleon's ; then, the handsome Char a Banc, pre- 
sented by Louis Phillippe ; the Droskeys, Sleigh and Sled 
from Nicholas, and the harness; also some carriages of 
George III., George IV., and William IV. The harness is 
generally plain, with but few ornaments; saddles of all 
kinds : one a fine Turkish saddle ; sleigh bells, etc., etc. ; 
all in [exquisite order. Using Miss Ay res' name, went 
through the Queen's private gardens, at Frogmore, covering 
eight or ten acres, and finely arranged : walked some half 
mile through Conservatories of Roses, Grapes, Strawberries, 
Raspberries, and Oranges ; many of them large and ripe, 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 75 

with choice flowers ; the grape vines are shoots from the 
Hampton Court vine. Returned to Windsor ; lunched at 
the Castle Inn, and took rails home. Called in the evening 
at Albert Street and Gordon Square. 

9th. — Went in the morning, by Mr. R.'s order, to No. 
53 Pall Mall, the exhibition of the new Society of Painters 
in water colors. The pictures are of large size ; some of 
them were of the life size, with the effect of the gobelins. 
The finest were "the Cavans Well;" "the Father watch- 
ing over his Child at prayer, before a Rood ;" " Vanity ;" 
" a housemaid neglecting her turnip paring, to dress her 
hair with flowers, before a glass ;" " Prince Charles in the 
Island of Skye, No. 52 ; Evening, No. 55 ; La Prigioniera, 
No. 68; "the Pastor and Flock going to Church," so 
much like Ashford Church ; No. 88 ;" " the broad Sun-glare 
of the Desert ; No. 100 ; No. 104 ; No. 107 ; No. 114 ; " the 
old building and the effect of the stained glass, No. 115;" 
Cromwell's Attitude, No. 118 ; " the monk in the cloisters, 
reading a pavement, brass, No. 123;" "the Sun-light and 
the general wakening, three feet by two, No. 129, the same 
as No. 18, No. 147 ; No. 153 ; and No. 161. The view 
from Round Tower, No. 215 Haddon Hall, gives a perfect 
view of the Dorothy Vernon's Terrace, and the old bay 
window, and the Yew Trees, with the Foot Bridge, No. 
227, called " a thing to bless ; " 'neath a bright moon, a 
beautiful girl, with flowing chesnut hair and blue eyes, at a 
well side, reading a letter with delight ; No. 218 — like a Car- 



76 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

toon — the best figure is the adoring female on the left, and 
those on the camels ; on the right there are near fifty 
figures in all, of the life size. There are many others 
worth memory, as Nos. 271; 276 ; 298 ; etc. The fresh vigor 
and energy given by this style, is superior to oil painting. 
Afternoon spent in the city ; bought some Murrays, and 
made some business calls : afterwards, joined ladies and 
went to the Royal Botanic Exhibition, at the Regent's Park 
Gardens. Here was a great crowd, in full dress, and some 
beauty : four or five of the foot bands were playing, amid a 
great number of Tents and Conservatories, full of fine 
plants and fruits, systematically arranged. There were 
some splendid Heaths, Azelias, and Orchidacea. Stayed 
some three hours there. Evening, at Herman's — German, 
as usual. 

10th. — Went down to the city; calling at R.'s, and 
meeting J. Y. W., in Oxford Street, went to the 
National Gallery of the Old Masters. Here are two hun- 
dred and thirteen pictures. In the first room are the well- 
known and engraved Hogarth's ; and Wilkies Blind Fiddler, 
and Village Fete ; Lawrence's Kemble, as Hamlet, and 
Mrs. Siddons ; several Reynolds, and Gainsboroughs, on the 
stairway, Religion, and the Virtues, by Angelica Kauffman ; 
then many superb Claudes, etc. The finest things there 
are the Ecce Homo of Corregio, No. 13. Murillo's Holy 
Family, No. 10 ; Mercury teaching Cupid to read, and 
DaVinci's Christ disputing with the Doctors, and St. Je- 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 



rome's Dream ; Ganymede borne up on an eagle ; Christ 
raising Lazarus ; West's Christ Healing the Sick ; Venus 
attpiring ; The Murder of the Innocents ; Rembrandt's 
Jew ; Venus and the satyr ; some Teniers, and some by 
Paul Rubens, and Vandyck. The Rape of the Sabines, 
No. 47 ; Cuyp's Landscape, the foreground of cattle, 
No. 74 ; Murillo's Spanish Peasant Boy ; Hogarth's mar- 
riage, a la mode ; the suite of six pictures, and the Brazen 
Serpent. 

Next, went to Sir John Soane's Museum, at Lincoln's, 
Inn Fields : this is quite an art treasury, though a private 
collection ; he died about ten years since, leaving this to 
the nation. A large private house is crowded in every 
room and nook, with gems of painting and sculpture car- 
vings, gems, medals, casts, freizes, designs, etc. The crypt 
is designed after Melrose Abbey ; the Egyptian room is 
full of Sarcophagi and Sphinxes ; there are many rare stain- 
ings ; a painting of Shakspeare is in the Tivoli Recess ; 
a Monk's Parlor, and the Oratory : and a collection of all 
kinds of objects of taste in a small space immense in num- 
ber. Their catalogue occupies some eight hundred and 
eighty pages. Evening spent in the House of Commons. The 
galleries were full when I arrived, and after waiting a while 
at last obtained a seat. Mr. Miles, member for Bristol, 
was then speaking to a thin house. A bill had been intro- 
duced by the Ministers, relative to the management of Pen- 
tonville and the other prisons, and Sir George Grey, Under 



78 IjIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

Secretary of State, had said, in debate, that the Queen in 
council had resolved, not to transport any more prisoners, 
and Mr. Miles was talking dully upon the necessity of re- 
taining the punishment of transportation. Sir Robert In- 
glis followed him, and spoke cleverly on the same side — 
Sir George Grey, rising frequently to explain ; then Sir 
James Graham prosed away upon the same topic. The 
House filled up to about one hundred and fifty. Lord John 
Russell was in his seat. The Premier is short, not above 
five feet ; and his face is like the pictures, wearing 
his hat on the back of his head, with plaid vest and light 
pants ; he did not speak ; I waited here for over two hours. 
The new Bude lights from the roof are fine : the House 
itself is mean, but the general appearance of the men is 
intellectual. There was a great crowd in expectation of 
hearing Mr. Hume's motion about Portugal, but it was 
postponed till to-morrow night, as Hume was not there. 
Sir Robert Inglis was the best speaker of the evening, he 
is not an orator ; but an au fait and fluent talker. There 
is a certain quiet in the manner of the speakers, we might 
well imitate : but, except the debaters, the rest sit with 
their hats on, legs up, and some asleep ; the only ceremony 
left here being a bow to the speaker on entering and leav- 
ing, and that they rise from their seats to speak. The 
Lords had risen, when I got clown ; the session is almost 
closed, so nothing could be expected of much interest. 
^ 11th. — Went with B., of New York, down by the Great 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 79 

Western Railway to Oxford, a ride of two hours ; to the 
Angel Inn, the best here, though poor and exorbitant ; those 
to whom I was introduced by Mackenzie, had left town, so 
took the Guide of the Inn, a tolerable fellow, and went to 
the Radcliff Library, mostly of medical books, of some sixty 
thousand in number. The symmetry and mouldings in 
its Grecian Dome, are fine. The books are handsomely 
arranged in arched alcoves around ; the circle is paved with 
tesselated marble, and ornamented with some fine casts and 
antiques. It is situated in Oriel Street, just off the High 
Street ; next went to the Bodleian, and leisurely passed 
through the lower rooms used as the Library. In a glass 
ease at the entrance are some curiosities ; Tippoo Sul- 
tan's Koran embroidered in satin ; and also in silk are 
many Arabic, Coptic, and Sanscrit MSS. ; Queen Eliza- 
beth's Latin exercises in her own writing ; a good bold 
hand ; the original book of Enoch ; a large book of the 
Signatures of those who have taken the Honorary Doctor- 
ates ; and here is the name of Edward Everett. The Hall 
is lit with rich stainings, and low oaken ceiling, oak floor, 
and book cases, with gilt wires ; venerable, quaint read- 
ing desks ; and all over are books in immense numbers, 
some one hundred thousand. Went up the old oaken stairs 
to the Picture Gallery ; here are some three hundred pic- 
tures of Chancellors, Men, and Masters, of all times, and 
among them some good Vandykes ; capital portraits of 
Dean Swift, Jonson, Prior, Addison, and Pope, many fine 



80 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

busts and models, particularly those of the Errectheam, and 
of the Maison Carre of Nismes with many finely sculptured 
archways, surrounded with book-cases. Our guide met us 
here, and conducted us to the old Divinity School. It has 
an exquisitely wrought Gothic stone ceiling, and is full of 
beautiful sculpture. Charles I. held his Oxford Parlia- 
ment here and Oliver used it as a stable : then to the Con- 
vocation Room ; plain Gothic, with a lofty roof; then 
to the Theatre, a splendid roof, finely painted, with the 
Muses, by Thoruville, is a circular form, with lofty dome, 
gilding, fine carving and Rostra, then to New College Cha- 
pel — most superb ; its east and west windows are by Sir 
Joshua Reynolds ; with the life size figures of the Virtues, and 
Christ's History ; here are some exquisite choir stained win- 
dows, and sculptures on the altar, by Westmacott, with a 
carved altar-screen, old crozier, and fine brasses, and richly 
tesselated pavements. Passing Trinity and Baliol Colleges, 
looked at the beautiful Gothic monument, erected lately to 
the martyr bishops, Ridley, Latimer, and Cranmer : it 
is beautiful, with fine inscriptions ; then passed the Cla- 
rendon and the University Press ; looked into St. Mary 
Magdalen's Church ; it is fine, though somewhat in modern 
style. There is service here daily twice ; then to the old 
Church of " St. Peter in the East;" the interior is modern, 
but there are some old stainings, and a fine old crypt, with 
an underground passage leading two miles off, to Godis- 
towe Nunnery ; then to Christ Church ; in its Noble house 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 81 

quadrangle : waited a few moments, and Dr. Pusey, canon 
of this Cathedral, and fellow resident of the College, came 
along from his rooms. His eyes were downcast ; sandy 
hair, projecting features, hurried gait, and earnest anxious 
look. He has just finished his ecclesiastical sentence of 
suspension, and he passed close by me, in his robes, to the 
Chapel, for the evening service, at 4, P. M. : followed to 
the Chapel, which is of Norman style ; sat in the Nave 
a few moments ; the choir sang very finely. Before me was 
the pulpit, where Pusey preached that sermon for which he 
was suspended : walked out into the beautiful alley, and 
around the fine meadows and gardens ; then went to old 
Merton, the oldest College here, of the time of the Conqueror; 
walked through its monastic Library, with its oaken bench- 
es, and book frames, with chained books, oaken roof and 
floor, all of the Middle Ages ; to its ancient Chapel, its 
monument of Bodley, and fine altar-window and brasses, 
and ancient Quadrangle ; then to Magdalen College : en- 
tered through its fine gateway, over which is carved a 
beautiful Madonna ; admired the stone pulpit in the corner 
of the Quadrangle, where the sermon on St. John's day 
is preached, looked at the curious figures for its orna- 
ments ; then into the fine gardens, walks, and meadows ; 
its splendid Park, and rare old trees ; the forty deer 
still kept according to the statute of Bishop Wayn- 
flete, the founder, were lying in the front Park : here 

are the old city walls, still in good preservation ; then to 

6 



82 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

Oriel College, looked around its spacious Quadrangle ; then 
to Addison's Walk, a fine alley bordering a meadow, over- 
hung by beech, oak, and lime trees ; then came back to 
Queen's College, on the High Street ; its open dome over 
the arched entrance, covers a fine statue of Philippa, Queen 
of Edward I. Its Cloisters and Quadrangle are the finest 
here ; its Library is quite modern ; the~ceiling is exquis- 
itely moulded in flowers, birds, etc. There are many fine 
carvings, by Gibbons, upon the bookcases ; the floor is of 
polished oak ; a fine bust of Locke is on the mantel, set in 
a well moulded niche, with some good paintings ; the whole 
is in the Grecian style, and beautiful. Walked down to 
Magdalen Bridge ; hence is the best view of Oxford : the 
fine old tower of Magdalen, with its bluish brown stone, is 
before you ; beyond, is the superb Lantern Tower of Mer- 
ton, the dome of the Radcliffe Library, and the spires of 
Christ Church, all rising from amongst the yews and elms 
of their fine Parks ; and, on either side, is the narrow and 
beautiful Isis, with its fine curves and rich meadows, and 
rolling country. Perhaps it is not equal as ^a landscape, 
to the view of Durham from the Prebend's Bridge. 

Returning, dined poorly at the Angel ; took rails for 

town and arrived about ten, P. M., finding on table a note 
enclosing a bencher's order, to see the new hall and Library 

of Lincoln's Inn for to-morrow. 

12th. — Took the ladies and went down to Lincoln's Inn 

Hall ; it is very large,J oaken" roof, with gilt pendants, 






DIARY OF A TOUR IX EUROPE. 83 

stone floor, with many beautifully stained windows, and a 
rich oaken carved screen, at the foot, with figures, of 
life size, in wood carving ; six of them in full costumes, as 
Bishops, Chancellors, and Judges. The tables were being 
set. The Gothic dome of the vestibule is beautifully 
wrought, and lit by stainings at the top, and is finer than 
that of the Temple Church. On the left of this dome is the 
hall, and, on the right, the library : an oblong room, oaken 
floor, and gilt carved oak, and gilded roof, with two fine sax- 
on-arched windows at the ends ; in the centre, and facing 
the entrance-door, is a superb window filled with the Royal 
arms, emblazoned in gold and crimson. The books are beau- 
tifully arranged, in three stories, with winding iron stair- 
cases, and writing-tables within railed recesses. The libra- 
ry is composed, two thirds, of miscellaneous books. Returning 
through the Fields, went over to Covent Garden Market ; it be- 
ing market-day, and late market at 1, P.M. ; the best hour to 
see the Market, is 6, A. M. Strawberries were abundant, 
and enormously large : walked about on the terrace, and 
looked at the pretty show of flowers ; and the fine view 
hence down the length of the Market. It seems a complete 
bazaar, and very neat and clean. Thence, went to Grave's 
shop, 6 Pall Mall, and looked at Powers' fine statue of the 
Neapolitan Boy, with conch-shell to his ear ; then to the ex- 
hibition of the old society of Painters in water colors ; they 
are inferior to those of the new society : went up to No. 44 
Oxford street, and looked at the enormous glass candelabra, 



84 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

15 feet high, ordered by Ibrahim Pasha, one of a pair, at a 
cost of £1500 : it is beautiful, chaste, and rich, with much 
fine mouldings, and engraving, and comes apart in sections 
for the voyage. 

13. — Sunday. — Very showery, and misty. R. called in 
the morning, and left me an order for the Mint ; called in 
the morning in Gordon Square. In the evening went to St. 
John's Chapel, Millman Row, and heard Reverend Baptist 
Noel ; a good sermon, with an earnest manner, but plain, and 
without attempt at eloquence. Mr. Noel succeeded to the 
Rev. Mr. Cecil, as the minister of this Chapel. 

14th. — Went with B. down to Southwark, and, giving 
our names, went over the immense Brewery of Barclay, 
Perkins & Co. It covers six acres; and its usual product 
is ten thousand gallons of ale, porter, and stout, per week : 
four hundred men are regularly employed, and one hundred 
and eighty Yorkshire horses : went over every fpart of it. 
The establishment is complete in itself, including coopers, 
and all other necessary trades : went through house after 
house ; the first, with enormous coppers and mashtubs : all 
the floors are of iron. The malt is put in a mill between two 
rollers, of iron, and cracked : there are three or four of 
these mills propelled by steam, and then it is carried up 
in boxes, on inclined planes ; each box holding half a quar- 
ter, and sixty going up hourly to the top of the great cop- 
pers, where it falls in, and is boiled, and then carried off by 
numerous tubes, into the mash tubs, where the liquor filters 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 85 

through the bottom, then descends into great vats, with 
parachute-like copper tops, to take off the filth, and then 
with ranges of enormous vats, twenty-four feet square, and 
seventy feet'deep, where it ferments ; and then by many pipes 
to a house filled with hogsheads, linked together by pipes, 
whence it is carried into great cooling houses and refrigera- 
tors ; then, by large underground pipes, to the great vat 
house, where there were nearly one hundred vats, some hold- 
ing three thousand five hundred, and some near four thou- 
sand barrels, (each, of thirty-six gallons,) and arranged 
around a handsome gallery ; and from these vats descend 
pipes through iron pillars, with faucets, whence the barrels 
are filled. The streets are crossed by their suspension 
bridges, at great heights ; went through their stables, nearly 
as extensive ; after the same style, and nearly as fine as 
those of Windsor. The firm consists of twelve partners, 
and has existed for nearly a century. Afternoon at home, 
writing, etc. Evening, with Herman, German. 

15th. — My order for the Mint took in five persons ; with 
B. and D. and ladies, went down about 11, A. M. : the 
officers were very attentive, and explained the whole pro- 
cess ; they were then coining sovereigns and half sove- 
reigns — farthings, and a new silver crown piece, stamped 
like the Angel of Elizabeth's reign. The gold comes to 
the Mint in wedges ; is placed under rollers and compressed 
into plates, and strips, of about two inches in width, and 
one »yard long ; is then drawn out by machinery, then cut 



86 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

in thirds, then carried to a circle of punches, in shape like a 
notarial seal press, where the circle of gold is pressed, and 
cut out of the standard diameter, falling down into a kind 
of tray, and carried into the die presses, where, as it is 
stamped, a tongue of iron pushes it off, into a receiving 
trough, and supplies another piece of gold on the die. All 
the machienry is by steam power, and works to exactitude ; 
something like five sovereigns a minute were being stamped. 
After going through the Mint, obtained an order, and went 
to view the St. Catherine's Docks, which are nearly oppo- 
site ; they are more extensive than the London Docks ; 
walked through near half a mile of warehouses, each of dif- 
ferent goods, and each department in perfect neatness and 
order, extending in a grand square about the basin or dock. 
The warehouses are each some five stories high, and one 
hundred feet square, with stone pillars, and the lower floors 
of iron, with huge derricks in front, and everywhere the 
ticketed, labelled, and numbered porter, guard, attendant, 
and clerk, each in his place. Home writing letters rest 
of day, and evening. 

16th. — Very rainy. Morning down in city at Putnam's, 
writing notes etc., lunched home, and spent the afternoon 
writing and reading. Evening went to a dinner party; 
given at R.'s No. 5 Cornwall Crescent, Camden, fine din- 
ner and house. 

17th. — Home all day, raining as yesterday, writing letters 
for steamer. Evening at Herman's. 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 87 ' 

18th. — After making a few small purchases at the Pan- 
theon, which is certainly one of the most beautiful Bazaars 
here : being larger than Stewart's with us, and greatly- 
more elegant ; including every thing like fancy articles of all 
kinds at quite reasonable prices and a fine conservatory ; made 
a few calls first, and returned home early to go to the morn- 
ing Dress Concert. At 1, P. M. at the Covent Garden 
Opera House the Stabat Mater was performed by this un- 
equalled company, chorus and orchestra ; nothing could excel 
Alboni in the " Fac ut portem ;" " Inflammatus," as sung 
by Grisi, and the Duet, " Quis est homo," by Ronconi and 
Alboni. In the second part the whole company sang Rossini's 
last a La Carita," and we had the overtures to Semiramide, 
and Oberon ; besides several exquisite solos by Salvi and 
Ronconi ; true music can never be fully described. I can 
only say it seemed near perfection. The house was very 
full, and many there of the nobility. Evening spent with 
Dr. Herman in German conversation. 

19th. — Having on the 16th instant, received a long and 
cordial invitation, from Martin Farquhar Tupper, to come 
down to-day and spend it with him, at his seat in the Vale 
of Albury, near Guilford Surrey ; took cab down to Hunger- 
ford Bridge, and then one of the iron steamers, called the 
" Wedding Ring," for the Vauxhall Bridge, and the Nine 
Elms Station; where, taking the half -past 10, A. M., rails 
for Guilford, arrived there about half-past twelve, and took 



83 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

coach and drove four miles over to Albury. His seat is just 
out of the village ; a house after the style of Charles the 
First's time ; indeed, a portion of itVas erected by his 
ancestors, at that period : and in the interior, it is but little 
changed : it is quite large, with a circular little park ; where 
are some Lebanon cedars, French oaks, and fine yews. It is 
in the bosom of a sweet valley : its entrance is a Gothic 
portal, on the south side ; and along this front, planted 
arbour -wise, grow many lovely climbing roses, at some con- 
siderable height from the ground. I sent in my card, and 
was ushered into the drawing-room ; a large and beautiful 
apartment, at the west end of the house, with French case- 
ment windows ; at either side of the door, are two large and 
richly inlaid cabinets ; above the mantel is a superb Guido, a 
life size of Diana, rising with her crown, really beautiful ; 
opposite, are some fine Teniers, and the remaining space is 
well covered with the masters ; between the two further win- 
dows, on a composite pedestal, revolving, is a beautiful life- 
size statue of " The Girl tying her Sandal," by Schadow. 
Mr. T. told me that his father gave two hundred guineas 
for it ; the furniture is in admirable taste ; I waited a mo- 
ment and Mr. Tupper came in, with a joyous welcome ; he 
is short in person; his portrait which he gave me, will well 
enough depict him. We talked awhile together about 
America, and then he read me over two good poems, which 
he had just written at Ascot ; then introduced his wife. 
He] talked on, unrestrainedly, and with some power, 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 89 



about men and books, and how pleasantly lie lived 
here; said he liked, and corresponded with Willis and 
M. and particularly liked the book by the latter. 
Lunch was being prepared, and presently we went 
through the hall, hung around with portraits of his ances- 
tors, in stern old Elizabethan ruffs and rapiers, to the dining 
room, at the other end of the cottage ; this, like the rest, is 
filled with the masters ; at the left corner of the further end, 
are some curious paintings upon marble, by the Chevalier 
Tempesta, and very ancient ; he was a Cuyp of his time ; 
there are four of them. The artist has left the veins of the 
marble exposed, when it was requisite to show the waves in 
the Red Sea, at the destruction of Pharaoh ; the figures and 
animals are admirably done. We sat down together to a 
hearty lunch, seasoned by Tupper's fine way of talking, and 
of thought. After lunch, we started on a country ramble ; 
it being a superb clay ; and walked together for miles, in 
earnest happy conversation, over hill and dale, now stopping 
to look at the noble prospect of distant hills, then at the fine 
farming valleys, forming a scenery altogether, more like 
Derbyshire than anything else : he pointed out a corner of a 
distant field, as evidently the site of a Roman Castrum, where 
he had recently found numerous Roman coins and tiles, 
which he afterwards showed me in his cabinet. Returning, 
after our delightful walk, we met his happy children on the 

green ; his Selwyn and Ellyn, his Mary and Charles, and 
the rest ; indeed, six in all : they are worthy of his poetry ; 



90 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

his eldest, Martin Charles Selwyn, is a noble boy, of perhaps 
eight years old. He had invited a neighbor, Mr. W. 
who had been in America, to meet me ; we went up stairs 
together, to dress for dinner, and then he showed me the 
gold medal just presented to him by the King of Prussia, for 
his Proverbial Philosophy; and also a box, made from 
Washington's coffin, of oak, sent to him from America, with 
a sonnet, by A. W. Boynton. We soon sat down to dinner : 
a capital one, with excellent wine, (Bucellus,) and we talked 
together delightedly, for some three or four hours, about 
books, the notables of America, and my own contemplated 
tour : it seemed as though we should never finish. After 
dinner, he presented me with a copy of his " Thousand 
Lines," writing my name and his in it ; also, a beautiful 
portrait of himself; and Mrs. T. gave me a fine bouquet 
from their garden. Presently the pony chaise was brought 
up, as we meant to make a circuitous drive, down to Guil- 
ford; we mounted, parting like friends of long years. 
Mr. Tupper drove me first, along an elevated road, 
commanding extensive and rich prospects ; then, over the 
sward, into a Druidical circle ; here were huge service trees, 
over thirty feet in girth; we alighted and measured 
one ; it was very curious, as at the bottom, from eighteen 
feet high down to the ground, a yew had grown thriftily upon 
it, whilst the top was blooming, with service berries ; a little 
further on, in the distance, is the picturesque ruin of St. 
Martha's Church, now being restored ; and rising the hill, a 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 91 

long way off, we saw the Towers of Windsor, and the long 
smoky outline of distant London : the view here extended 
for forty miles each way. We soon got to Guildford, and 
driving down the main street, looking quaint, like York. I 
alighted a moment, and ran into Archbishop Abbott's Hos- 
pital, founded here in sixteen hundred and sixteen, for a 
master and twelve men; a plain, open quadrangle, with 
some fine stainings in its little chapel ; at a turning, near 
here, just around the corner, is the house where the Arch- 
bishop was born. We looked at the fine old Castle of Guild- 
ford ; the quaint old Saxon and Norman Churches here ; and 
at last, got to the station, ^promising to correspond ; and 
with many warm wishes, and good counsels he took his leave, 
and I arrived home, about 10, P. M. 

20th. — After breakfast, wrote to Tupper; and went to 
church at the chapel of St. Margaret, of Westminster ; poor 
sermon ; fine church and music. The interior is quite new ,* 
spent the afternoon at home, writing and study. Evening at 
37 Gordon Square ; D. met me there, and spent an hour 
afterwards with me at my room. 

21 st. — Furnished with an introduction to Dr. Hartwell 
Home, I went this morning to the British Museum ; and 
going through the Gallery of Antiquities and the Egyptian 
Gallery, and the Townley collection, I reached the Library 
door, which was closed to the public to-day : it was, how- 
ever, opened to me ; and going through many grand rooms, 
at last found Dr. Home, in one of the MSS. rooms, leaning 



92 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

against a pillar, in conversation with a group of gentlemen, 
the Assistant Librarians : he received me with the utmost 
courtesy ; and, (it was half-past 10, A. M., when I first 
met him,) he left me only, at the outer entrance, at 3, P. M. 
I need not write out another, and feeble description of this 
Museum ; to do so, of course, would take a volume. Dr. 
Home conducted me to the great library of George III : 
presented by George IV., in eighteen hundred and twenty- 
two ; a most superb collection and room : with fine oak 
floor ; superb pillars of marble, and finely moulded ceiling : 
then, into the great room : its extreme length is eight hun- 
dred feet, completely lined with books, for three and four 
stories high ; at the upper end is the Authors' Reading 
Room, and so great is the distance, that although forty or 
fifty Librarians and assistants are employed, a book is 
waited for from ten minutes to half an hour. The floors 
are of stone ; the roof of brick, and arched to sever it from 
the next floor ; the heat is from steam pipes ; the books are 
in strong brick cases, thickly stowed, and covered mostly with 
net-work of brass wire ; the book cases are placed in square 
recesses, in which are desks for the librarians ; along the 
centre, in elegant cases of oak, covered with single glass 
plates, are contained the great treasures of the Library ; a 
great number of these, Dr. Home showed me ; here were 
several Caxtons; Pope's Homer, in the original MSS., on 
the backs of letters, in his own hand ; Shakespeare's auto- 
graph ; also, Luther's and Melancthon's, upon their own 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 93 

original bibles ; Laclj Jane Grey's prayer book, with auto- 
graph ; Elizabeth's psalter, in Norman French, in her own 
hand, and with her signature : the first copy, printed fifteen 
hundred and twenty-two, of the Complutensian Polyglott ; 
another Polyglott, printed in fifteen hundred and sixteen, 
the earliest in the world ; Miles Coverdale's bible, the first 
and original copy : and in taking this down, Dr. Home 
observed that it was the author of a very pleasant incident 
to him : on the fly leaf, is the date : October 4th, 1538 ; 
which is thus, the date of the first entire English scrip- 
tures ; he took it down about May, eighteen hundred and 
thirty-eight, and he remembered then, that the next fourth 
of October, eighteen hundred and thirty-eight, would com- 
plete three centuries from its first publication : the thought 
struck him with great force : he immediately wrote a 
memorial to the clergy, upon the propriety of a jubilee on 
that day, and which, by the almanac, came on a Sunday ; he 
made addresses on the subject to the convocation of the 
church, and his design was at length adopted. Sermons in 
commemoration of so great an event, were delivered that day 
in all the churches here ; and the Bishops Doane and Mcll- 
vane, as he had understood, likewise preached on the same 
day, and for the same purpose in America. He told it 
with simplicity and deep feeling. Tyndal's new testament, 
in the original edition, is also in the Library, but I did not 
see it. There are great numbers of exquisite and large 
specimens of binding in gold and pearls, as early as Henry 



94 L>IARY OF A TOUR Ilf EUROPE. 

IV. of France ; and also, many original Aldine classics 
with autograph notes, by Erasmus and Casaubon ; Lord 
Chief Justice Hale's original MSS. and autograph, and many 
hundred other learned curiosities. We went together over 
the whole Library, into the Harleian and Cottonian MSS. 
room ; into the vaults of the Newspapers and Periodicals ; 
looked at the fifty or sixty authors, who were then busy in 
their reading room; then into the museum, and into the 
Egyptian rooms, where is the Rosetta stone ; the Minera- 
logical room, the Etruscan room, and of the Bronzes ; the 
rooms of the Natural History ; and those of the Elgin, and 
the Townley marbles, and the Gallery of Antiquities ; and he 
left me at the entrance, at the above mentioned time. En- 
gaged on Saturday, to go with him to Christ's Church Hos- 
pital, and the Heralds College. Mr. Home is of short 
stature, plain face, and meek, earnest manners ; says he 
will be sixty years of age in two or three days. He wears 
the Clerical dress : being rector of " St. Edmond's, by the 
Wardrobe," in the city ; a living worth £300 a year, out 
of which, he has to pay in yearly taxes, £100. He told 
me he was left an orphan, at eight years old, and went to 
Christ's Church Hospital : left at fifteen, being then, one 
of the upper Grecian boys : there was then but one exhibi- 
tion at the University of Cambridge, from this school, and 
it took more interest than he possessed to obtain it. He 
had taught himself Hebrew, and several modern languages ; 
had been twenty-two years, come next Michaelmas, in this 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 95 

Library, and had spent several years in digesting a classi- 
fied catalogue, in which, in his own department of Theology, 
he had made great progress ; when Brougham introduced 
Panizzi, (who speaks seventeen languages,) as a Librarian : 
and Parliament ordered Home's plan to be given up, and 
an alphabetical catalogue to be commenced : they had since 
spent some years on this, and were now engaged, (some 
forty men in all,) upon the letter D. There are about four 
hundred and seventy thousand books here ; and this 
number is continually increasing. They have a nearly 
complete collection of American books, I believe, near- 
ly forty thousand, as he said, of law books, and others ; 
of every book printed in England, and entered at the 
Stationers' Hall, a copy is sent here. A copy of each 
newspaper when two years old, is deposited here and 
bound for judicial reference. Parliament grants to the 
library £20,000 annually ; there are in all some sixty 
librarians and assistants. No fires, lights, or sealing, are 
allowed. Every night, a watchman makes a tour of the 
whole Jmilding to detect fire, or persons secreted. Dr. 
Home had only known of one instance of the latter, and 
this was some one who had fallen asleep from fatigue. No 
fees, whatever, are allowed. Every one, on a proper order 
from the directors, can use the books, which are not allowed 
to be taken from the rooms. He described everything 
minutely to me : spoke very intimately of the U. S., of the 
Church there, and of the Onderdonk affair. _ He was a Low 



96 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

Churchman himself, and thought the present Cabinet had 
fully sustained its pledges to the Church, except in Wat- 
Bon's Bill, which he called Popish. Introduced me to Pro- 
fessor Lee, the Orientalist, at Cambridge. Said his time 
was perfectly systematized ; Saturdays, and the time occu- 
pied in riding up and down by the omnibus, were the only 
seasons he had for reading. Showed me Mr. Kewerston, 
the celebrated Sanscrit and Arabic scholar, now engaged 
on a Polyglott, and the Ignatian Epistles, etc., and men- 
tioned that they had also a Chinese scholar there, and that 
the prayer book in Chinese was nearly printed, etc., etc. 
Every librarian has to make a daily report to the directors, 
of his progress, through the day, in his allotted task. The 
best account of the whole Museum and library, Dr. Home 
thought was in the Penny Cyclopedia. 

22d. — Rose Early and drove over to the Eastern Counties 
Railway Station, where I met D. and Sidney A. ; took rails 
at 7. 15, and got to Cambridge at 9 ; breakfasted at the 
Bull Inn, an excellent House ; called on Professor Lee at 
Trinity ; term over, and he had gone up to his Rectory at 
Barley, Herefordshire. After breakfast, and whilst sitting 
in front of the house, Mr. Robert B., of New Rochelle, N. Y., 
who was down here on a visit passed the door and recognized. 
He was engaged in copying pictures, and brought his brother 
down, who is a commoner at Corpus Christi, who kindly de- 
voted the whole day to us. Went first to King's College 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 97 

Chapel, looked at its beautiful carvings and stainings, and no- 
ble proportions, went up above the roof, and had a noble view — 
Then to the Senate Hall, now being fitted up for the Instal- 
lation of Prince Albert as Chancellor ; then, into the beauti- 
ful gardens, and over the bridges, looking at St. John's 
College, and its superb new buildings; then to Trinity 
College, went through its fine court, to the chapel ; here are 
the statues of Newton, Dr. Wordsworth, Porson — old Hooker, 
and others, with fine oak carvings, and good altar painting ; 
then to the library, rich with the carving of Gibbon, and 
Thorwaldsens divine Statue of Byron. In one corner, 
in a recess is the Lycidas in Milton's own hand. The 
last line in the MSS. is all that is corrected; it is thus 
ending, leaving his own corrections for euphony : " To-mor- 
row to fresh fields and woods new," and also his sketch 
or design, and dramatis personee, for the Paradise, also, 
Newton's own, self-made, original Telescope; a beautiful 
Roman tesselated table, and the sides of the Room are every 
where ornamented with superb Busts by Roubillac. We then 
went into the great Hall; — a noble gothic-room. Over 
the front gateway of this College, are the four rooms which 
Newton always occupied, in no way altered now. We went 
through the gate of Honor to old Cauis ; looked at old Sidney 
Sussex, Cromwell's College, then to Corpus Christi, and went 
into its fine hall ; Archbishop Teunison presides here yet ; 
and • then into the Fellow's Combination room ; then, to 
Christ's College and tliA ^vden (Milton's) ; who was a Fellow 



98 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

here ; they show a fine mulberry, said to have been planted 
by him, and I plucked some fine roses here ; near by is the great 
Fish pond, with the giant carp said to be 72 years old : a 
whale among the rest ; then to St. Sepulchre's or the Tem- 
plar's Church. The Nave is of the 8th, or 9th century ; 
Two encaustic tiles were shown me as found here lately, 
evidently very old, but still quite fresh and the Church is 
paved with tiles like them. It is of course like the Tomb, 
and the Church at Jerusalem ; the east window is beautiful- 
ly stained. How much the Templar's helmet is like this 
Nave. There are no Templar's Monuments here. A very 
fine Organ, completely concealed behind a stone Screen ; it 
was playing as we entered, next to the University Library, 
it is of course very extensive, the ceiling is moulded in the 
Elizabethan style, but the new room with its fine bold arch 
and Grecian mouldings is one of the finest things here ; 
the old rooms are'now coming down, all to be rebuilt in this 
style ; then, to the Fitzwilliam Gallery where there are some 
two hundred masters ; the Rembrandts are very fine, also a 
Madonna by Carlo Dolci, and many other gems, but there are 
much better collections ; they showed me here Queen Eliza- 
beth's virginal book containing some eight hundred pages of 
quarto music for Corantos, Galliards etc., arranged and writ- 
ten by her masters, beautifully done ; the stave used was of 
six lines ; then, went down to King's College Chapel again, 
and delightedly listened to the exquisite music of the evening 
service ; then, to our Inn and home at 10, P. M., a bright day. 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 99 

23d. — Very showery. Made a few calls in the morning ; 
spent the afternoon in writing etc., evening with Dr. Her- 
man. 

24th. — Went down with Mr. R. and Dr. C. to Rosher- 
ville Gardens, Gravesend, rather pretty, but too rainy for 
enjoyment ; evening went to the Princess's, and heard Charles 
Matthews and Madame Vestris in " Used up" etc. ; an 
exceedingly clever performance. 

25th. — Too rainy to go to Woburn Abbey as I had de- 
signed ; made a few calls etc. in the morning, studied 
German and finished letters to U. S. in afternoon ; evening 
at Dr. Herman's. 

26th. — Went down to the Surrey Zoological Gardens in 
the morning, very ordinary ; afternoon at home ; evening 
saw Buckstone, Miss Nisbett and Webster, in " Love Chase" 
and " Jacobins" at the Haymarket ; very excellent. 

27th. — Sunday. In the morning pursuant to invitation 
from Thomas Hartwell Home ; went down to his Chapel of 
St. Edmond, King and Martyr in Lombard street, a very 
ancient parish, but the Church has recently (1833) been beau- 
tifully restored. He reads the service with reveremce and un- 
derstanding, and in a mild tone ; preached an excellent sermon ; 
after service introduced me to his wife, and then we went togeth- 
er to Christ's Church Hospital. As we entered the new great 
Hall, the Organ was playing, and the Choristers singing beau- 
tifully their short Psalm before dinner; presently we entered 
the superb new room, 25 years old ; Gothic ; something like 



100 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

Hampton Court Hall; 250 feet long, with fine paintings of James 
II, and Visits of Victoria and Albert, and rich in stained "win- 
dows. Nine hundred and seventy Blue Coat Boys sat down to 
a dinner of Roast Beef and Salad. Dr. Home showed me his 
grandson here ; told me that fifty-two years ago, when he 
entered, the fare was poorer. Coleridge and Charles Lamb 
were here with him, and in his class ; he said Coleridge 
was of a serious turn, and of remarkable conversational pow- 
ers, and would often gather around him knots of boy listen- 
ers to his stories ; he owed him personally a deep obligation 
for urging him to study harder, whereby he became Upper 
Grecian. Leaving this Hall we went all around the extensive 
buildings ; then took cab and drove to Mr. R's., dined with 
a large party. Evening passed at home. 

28th. — Went down with D. to Westminster Hall and saw 
the Exhibition of Historical Paintings, ordered by commission 
of Parliament ; 150 in number ; all were good, and some were 
superb, No. 7, the figure of Peace and the Queen : The Bu- 
rial of Harold : The Pilgrim Father's : The Battle of Menee : 
Christ's " Suffer little Children," and Design for painted 
window and many others. M. F. Tupper came and dined 
with me in the evening. 

29th. — In the 8 30 A. M. train to Tunbridge, driving 
through a beautiful country, rolling and rich ; took carriage 
thence, and drove 7 miles over to Knowle Park, the seat of the 
Earl of Amherst, former Ambassador to China. The road 
winds over lofty hills and the views are nearly 40 miles in ex- 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 101 

tent, and of the finest character. We arrived soon at the 
Seven Oaks, the pretty village at the Gate, and walked some 
half an hour before the gates were opened, in the Park. It 
is magnificent ; studded with huge ancestral oaks and elms, 
and rolling hills of grand extent, with deer. The scenery looks 
like the Windermere country. We entered the Palace by 
the fine Baronial Hall : it is antique, and rich in carvings 
and paintings. There is the Old Music Gallery, and the Dais 
for " My Lord" opposite. We went through many Galleries of 
Paintings, some are very fine : in the Brown Galery is a portrait 
of Ninon de'lEnclos, taken at the age of 70 years, beautifully 
executed, she was even then very lovely. The rooms retain their 
antique furniture ; rich silver fire dogs, (which have been copied 
in the Pictorial Shakspeare :) and here is the room where King 
James I. slept on a visit here, in one of his progresses, and well 
preserved, with the bed in rich embroidery, tables, mirrors, 
and toilet furniture all of silver and fine arras ; a great many 
fine paintings by Kneller and Lely, a very fine head in the 
corner of the sitting room, by Rembrandt ; some Guidos and 
Corregio's. From the fine old bay windows of the drawing 
room the view over the exquisite Gardens and Park is delight- 
ful. The house is very ancient, being first built in the reign 
of King John ; irregular and massive, without much exterior 
ornament : castellated, but the round towers and keeps, &c, 
have gone ; and now it is composed of but two irregular quad- 
rangles successively ; a fine old Chapel with stainings, and 
latticed pew for my Lord. The road from the Gate, winds 



102 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

for near a mile, up elevated ground, and the chance views of 
the house through the grand trees are fine. We spent some 
two hours here, and then drove over to Penshurst ; it is seven 
miles off; returning on the same road, and turning off some 
three miles from Tunbridge. The front of Penshurst Place 
is more imposing than that of Knowle, but it is smaller and 
more recent, built in the reign of Edward VI. We first en- 
tered the fine old Parish Church adjoining : in the choir aisle 
are the tombs of the Sidneys ; Sir Philip lies here in efligy, 
and there are many others of the family there ; it is a noble 
old Church, with a fine tower, near which a gateway leads to 
the Place ; its Baronial Hall has been disfigured by attempts 
at frescos, which are unfinished ; but the oak roof is unin- 
jured ; in the centre are massive fire irons, and a fireplace 
very ancient. The house is now in great disorder : there are 
many fine portraits of the Sidneys, and also Sir Philip's 
sword, Buckingham's bridle, &c, Queen Elizabeth's room, 
with her state bed and the furniture of the room, embroidered 
with her own hands, is left in its original richness ; with fine 
arras hangings, and many fine paintings. The old disordered 
armory has many relics ; Charles I's boots, and many pieces 
of armor of that and earlier times. Lord de Lisle is its 
present owner, and he is a Sidney, in the Life Guards : the 
exterior has been repaired, but the interior is neglected : the 
Park is pretty ; the moat and parapet are planted with flow- 
ers ; the roses were in full bloom here, as everywhere else 
about this country, climbing over the hedges and cottage 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 103 

thatch. Returned to Tunbridge, and while dinner was pre- 
paring, visited the fine ruins of the Castle here : the great 
tower, with the moat, and part of the look-out tower alone, 
remain : it stands some 70 feet high, above the Medway riv- 
er ; it was built by the Conquerer, and is of enormous size 
and strength. The views here are most beautiful, with the 
heavy foliage, clustering thick, and climbing to the summit. 
The earth has filled up the look-out tower, and it is now a gar- 
den. After dinner at the Rose and Crown we returned to town. 

30th. — At home in the morning ; in the city on business 
in the afternoon. 

July 1. — Went with Mr. R. over the Bank of England. 
Its buildings cover 4 acres ; 900 clerks and subordinates are 
.employed. Went through every portion except the vaults ; 
admired the ingenious machinery for weighing Sovereigns, 
numbering pages of books, the Tell-Tale to announce the 
number of printed sheets, and the exhaustion pump to cool 
the atmosphere produced by the hot air pipes. Spent two 
hours at the Bank, then to the Polytechnic Institution. A 
model of the Wheatstone's Telegraph was exhibited in oper- 
ation. It worked by making the needles deflect by handles, 
and watching their turnings ; slow, imperfect, and much in- 
ferior to Morse's. Afternoon at home. 

2d. — Designed going to Woburn, but too cloudy. 
Called on S. in the morning ; accepted his invite for Sunday 
to his Box in Berks. Afternoon spent writing at home. 
Evening with Dr. Herman. 



104 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

3rd. — Morning called on Mrs. R . Afternoon 

at home writing. Evening at Her Majesty's Theatre to hear 
Jenny Lind. Of course, the house was crowded in every part. 
The Queen, Prince Waldemar, and great numbers of the no- 
bility were there. Jenny performed Amina in Somnambula. 
She is handsomer than the pictures. Her tones are inex- 
pressibly sweet ; her action the finest I ever saw ; so appa- 
rently natural, and con amore, and yet so lady like. "Ah 
non ginnge," was encored 5 times, and in it she displayed 
wondrous power. Grisi and her power fade away in compari- 
son ; but the Company and the Orchestra are very ordinary. 
Gardoni, the tenor is all that is worthy of praise. Her whis- 
pered singing of "Oh ! come lieto e il popolo," and "al 
tempio ne fa scortea," and of "Ardon le sacre tede," and 
"0! . Madre Mia m'aita," and "non mi sostiene il pie," 
and "al mio," &c, was overpoweringly fine. In fact, none 
can resist being swept off into raptures, with her matchless 
performance. Carlotta Grisi danced La Esmeralda superbly. 

4th. — Dinner party at a country seat on the Thames. 

6th. — Visited Winchester; its Cathedral and Hospital 
of St. Cross, and spent two days there. 

7th. — At Southampton, intending to visit the Isle 
of Wight, but the weather was not propitious. Called on 
our Consul here, Mr. Rodney, of Va. ; then took carriage 
and drove about the town and around it, passing many 
beautiful country seats, and finely arbored woods, to Net- 
ley Abbey, a most perfect and extensive Ruin. It is beau- 



DIARY OP A TOUR IN EUROPE. 105 

tiful. Here yet is the Nave with its two great windows, roofless 
and ivy clad ; a root of a felled tree, by its circles, 300 years 
old, is in the centre, and younger, though gigantic oaks clus- 
ter around ; and also the transepts, cloisters, Lady Chapel, 
Refectory, Kitchen, with its strange old fire places, and over 
these are still the old stone roofs ; and also the great quad- 
rangle ; and here was a large pic-nic party in great glee. 
The country around is beautiful. The ripe grain was waving 
in the fine breeze luxuriantly about it. Returned to Hotel, 
dined, and Jhen D. parted from me to take the Rails to Lon- 
don at 6 P. M ; upon the Quay, as I went on board the 
Steamer Grand Turk, for Havre. We had a lovely sail, be- 
ing a very fine night, passing Ryde and Portsmouth, and 
arrived at Havre at 6. A. M. 

8th. — Breakfasted at Hotel de PEurope, and then 
took at 10 A. M., rails to Rouen, where I stayed till 6 P. 
M., rambling about the town ; admired the fine old Cathedral, 
the church of St. Ouen., Palais de la Justice; its fine Oak 
ceiling, and La Place de la Pucelle. Took rails again through 
a lovely country, in fine cars, and arrived at Paris at 10 1-2 
P. M., and drove to Meurices. 

9th. — Made a number of calls in the morning; and 
the afternoon ; evening at Franconis. 

10th. — Morning, went through one Gallery of the Louvre, 
their immensity and crowd of pictures, prevents one from get- 
ting a complete idea ; weather excessively warm. 

11th. — Sunday. Spent the morning at Pere la Claise. It 



105 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

is vastly over praised and perhaps not equal even to our 
Greenwood or Auburn ; afternoon made some calls. 

12th. — Weather do ; Spent an hour at the Chamber of 
Deputies, then went to the beautiful Madeleine, then to Notre 
Dame, where I could not but admire the new Monument to 
Bishop de Ligne : the fine paintings of Christ restoring to life, 
the son of the widow Nain, the entombment of the Virgin, 
&c; then to the Pantheon, and one cannot help being much more 
pleased with the beautiful paintings and the carved and winding 
staircase, around the columns of the choir and the rarely 
stained windows in the Church of St. Etienne which is near 
by ; Evening at home. 

13th. — Passed the day at Versailles ; went all over the 
Palace, the Jardins, and the Trianons delightedly. 

14th. — Rev. Dr. H , of New York meeting me at the 

Hotel this morning, we went out together to the Hotel de 
Invalides : the Tomb of Napoleon &c, was not allowed to be 
seen being incomplete ; then to the Church of St/Sulpice, and 
then to the delightful Fabrique des Gobelines. In the salle 
de PExposition here, are the fine pictures of the "Destruction 
of the Mamelukes" infinitely beyond the most exquisite paint- 
ing — also, " Peter the Great saved by his mother," and the 
full lengths of the King, Queen, and Royal family with many 
others ; and also the superb Carpets in course of manufac- 
ture : it is without doubt the most interesting sight in Paris. 
Dined with Dr. H. at the Trois Freres and afterwards went 
out to St. Germains, and made a short call on Mr. Robert Walsh 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE, 107 



and family, came home about 11 P. M. and wrote introduc- 
tion to M. F. Tupper for H. at his request and received from 
Mr. Tupper his " Ode to Venice." 

15th. — Spent all day in business and calls ; at Madame de 
Nerval, met Mrs. B. from N. Y. Dr. H. dined with me : 
after dinner, Dr. Brewster came with his trotting carriage 
and drove me out to the Bois de Boulogne, stopping a while 
together at the Mabilles, to look at the Bal Champetre there, 
and I spent the evening with him at his house, 11 Rue de la 
Paix. 

16th. — Writing letters all day. Received letters from 
my mother and S. N. D., each answered, wrote also to Tup- 
per to be sent by H. and also note inclosing a copy of his 
Venus to D. by the same hand, to be published in the Litera- 
ry world ; called in the evening on some friends and received in- 
troductions for Smyrna. 

17th. — At 7 30 A. M., took my seat in the Voiture Sa- 
lon of the Train, for Brussels. This carriage is a most 
superb affair : square, beautifully lined and tapestried, hold- 
ing nine persons, with luxurious cushions, and mirrored ; 
two of them upon one car. Rode till 6 P. M. ; the route 
through France to Quieorain is without interest ; but from 
this point, which is the Frontier, it suddenly changes into 
great loveliness. Everywhere are smiling wheat fields, and 
verdure like a Home landscape. We stopped at Mons; 
strongly walled, with a picturesque Cathedral. The peasant- 
ry were tidy in their dress, and at work in their fields ; a 



108 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 



scene of happy industry, and a wide contrast to France. The 
view of Brussels, as you approach it on the Rails, is beauti- 
ful. The country rises with rich verdure ; thrifty, covered 
with neat white farm houses. This Railway is called the 
" Cheinin de Fer dp Nord." Our Train was over 1-4 of a mile 
long, propelled by two enormous locomotives, larger than 
those on the Great Western Railroad of (England,) and ad- 
mirably managed, with scarcely any perceptible motion to 
the Car, at an average speed of about 20 miles per hour. 
Drove to the Hotel de Belle Vue, in the Place Royale, so famous 
for the Duchess of Richmond's Ball, June 17th, 1815. It is 
facing the beautiful Park, and next to the Palace of the 
Prince of Orange. It is very clean, like every thing else 
here ; the apartments are superbly furnished, and very large, 
with every attention shown. Meurices is verv much inferior. 
After dinner, took a short stroll in the beautiful Park, op- 
posite, and retired early. 

18th. — Sunday, one month ago to-day, in 1815, and Water- 
loo was fought ; unconscious at the moment of its near anniver- 
sary, had by request been called to an early breakfast, and took 
my seat in a carriage for the field. We arrived at 11 A. M., 
at Hougemont, the very hour when the Great Drama com- 
menced, and as our guide, Martin Viseur, who witnessed it, 
said, the weather then of the previous night was like that of 
yesterday'and to-day ; stormy, with heavy lightning, thun- 
der and rain, and the day itself and the hour fair, though slight- 
ly clouded. By the same road from Brussels South to Water- 






DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 109 

loo, through which we passed, the Allies came, and early in 
the morning had drawn up fronting upon this road, which con- 
tinues across the field of battle. The centre was formed in a line, 
where now stands the Great Mound with the Belgian Lion, 
and extended to a little farm house on the road, behind La 
Haye Sainte ; here stood Picton, opposite the mound ; on the 
right centre was Colonel Halkett's Brigade ; and there, Ney, 
with the Imperial Guard, charged and broke the British line 
from 4 30 to 6 o'clock, P. M., of that day : the left wing ex- 
tended to the wood ; this was under Sir Hussey Vivian, and 
through this wood, (the Boissey wood,) Blucher came ; the 
right wing extended as far as the cross road to Nivelles, all 
making together a line of near one and a half miles long : at the 
break of day they were more scattered, but about 9 A. M. were 
formed into condensed squares : behind, to the north-west, at 
the little church of Merbe Braine, Lord Hill was posted with the 
reserve. Prior to the action, the Duke had posted three 
strong parties in advance : on the right, at Hougemont under 
MacDonnell at about three hundred yards in advance of the 
right wing, over a gentle valley intervening between the two 
armies, and about 800 or 1000 yards in width ; another 
advance party on the left, facing the left centre, or Gen. 
Picton's Division, at La Haye Sainte, a small but strongly 
built farm house, now belonging to our guide's mother ; and 
also another advance at Passiflote, another but smaller farm 
house near by. On the other side, the French came up from 
the field of Quartre Bras, through Charleroi, and took up 






110 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

their position on a slightly elevated ridge, forming the other 
rim of this valley ; the right of their centre resting on the 
farm house still there, called La Belle Alliance, a little to your 
right Jiand, looking in a straight line southward from La Haye 
Sainte. Beyond to the right of La Belle Alliance, but still far- 
ther hack, on a slight hill, is the house of Coster, Napoleon's 
guide on that day, where was his head-quarters, and from 
which he was continually seen watching the battle, as it raged. 
How they fought is on a thousand tongues still living, glad 
to tell of the great day when all Europe^here struggled for 
the prize of mastery. My guide says the battle closed some- 
where about 9 o'clock, P. M., and about 8000 men lay dead 
upon the field; and about as many more wounded, out of 
whom, about one in ten survived ; they buried them where 
they lay, in their uniforms, the soldiers claiming all for their 
booty, rifling everything valuable, and forcing the peasantry 
to assist in the burial. The villagers had fled on the lTth, to 
the neighboring woods, abandoning almost everything. I 
went first to Hougomont ; into its ruined court yard, among 
its broken walls, and into that bloody orchard : it is all a de- 
serted ruin now ; but there is not a stone which is not marked 
by the balls, and the walls are pierced for musketry in all di- 
rections. The trees still grow in the orchard, but they are 
twisted and riven by the shot. After walking very slowly 
over the scene of the thickest combat, in this blood-stained 
valley, where the dead lay in heaps five or ten deep, ascended 
the Mound or Grand Sepulchre, 200 feet high, the grave of 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. HI 

many thousands : The Belgian Lion, finely cast in bronze, is 
on the top, to mark the spot where the Prince of Orange was 
wounded. This mound, was raised, of course, after the bat- 
tle, for over this groundthe awful charges of Ney were made 
on Col. Halket's Brigade of the allies' right centre : three 
times they charged with terrific slaughter : once with 3000, a 
second time with 4000, and the third time with 6000 men; for 
near two hours ; and at length the British centre broke, and 
did not retire in good order, as has been written : on the au- 
thority of Viseur and Cotton, who fought under Vivian, and 
was ordered up to reinforce the centre. From the top of the 
mound the view is superb ; perhaps for three miles north and 
south, and for one and a half miles wide. It is near the true 
centre of this gentle valley. What could have been better 
chosen for a position for either army 1 The field spread out 
before me, clothed with waving grain, and richly cultured 
fields ; on the west Hougomont almost covered with its wood, 
and orchard : to the north, the village of Mont St. Jean and 
the distant spires of Brussels ; to the east, La Haye Sainte ; 
to the south, La Belle Alliance, the Coster House, and far off 
on the horizon, the Monument to mark the bloody day of Qua- 
tre Bias. I was four hours on the field. Came home about 
4 P. M. ; read Tupper's glorious ode on Waterloo, written 
for this year's Waterloo Banquet ; afterwards walked over to 
the beautiful Cathedral of St. Gudule ; its pulpit is a mira- 
cle of wood carving ; Adam and Eve in full size support it, 
while the angel with the flaming sword drives them away 



112 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

from Paradise ; Adam covers his face in despair, and Eve 
looks up in an agony of grief, one hand still grasping the for- 
bidden fruit. On the back of the pulpit is the Tree of 
Knowledge, full of the fruit, and exquisitely wrought : the 
canopy is upheld by Angels ; its drapery of wood carving, al- 
most real, is held up by flying Cherubs^who seem to hang in 
air ; and on the top, is the full length Virgin, erect, holding 
out a cross, and at her feet the infant Jesus, with his foot on 
the serpent's head, beautifully carved. At every point, are 
peacocks, birds, and other animals of life size and in natural 
positions. The choir and its chapels are lit by the most su- 
perb stainings. The Lady Chapel, behind the altar, is full 
of rich sculptures and stainings ; there is a beautiful and re- 
cent monument in the north transept to Triest, a Canon here, of 
Charity nurturing a group of children. The church is not so 
remarkable for its exterior, or for its size. We then went to 
the Place des Martyres of the Revolution of 1830, situated 
in a beautiful square, formed of those clear white Ionic col- 
onnades, which make tins city so charming. The monument 
is beautiful. The presiding divinity of Belgium is inscribing 
on a roll, a lion at her side, has broken a heavy chain, which 
lies at her feet ; around its pedestal, are to be four bas re- 
liefs, only two of which are now finished, " The Coronation 
of the Martyrs," and the " Priest blessing their Dead Bo- 
dies." Both are on a large scale with numerous well execu- 
ted figures. The great granite pedestal stands in the centre 
of a paved court or square, some 12 feet below the level of 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROBE. 113 

upon black marble tablets are the names of the martyrs. The 
•whole affair is in beautiful taste. I then walked on to their 
fine Bouvleards, faced by similar superb houses ; and then to 
the Allee Verte, or their Hyde Park ; many fine vehicles were 
driving here, and its green alleys were filled with a happy 
and well dressed multitude. Upon the Bouvelards near here, 
are the beautiful Botanical Gardens, seeming almost like the 
Regent's Park. Returned home about 9 o'clock, P. M. ; 
wrote up journal and retired early. 

19th. — Morning — -Went over the Gallery of Paintings in 
the Musee Roy ale. They are very numerous. Among the 
ancients, all by the Flemish masters, there are many very in- 
different ; but there are two there, a Flemish Woman seated 
before a mirror attiring her Shawl, and another next to it a 
Woman combing her hair. There is a gallery here mostly 
filled by Jourdaens and Rubens. " The angel's visit to Abra- 
ham" by the former, with some few others, and also Rubens' 
magnificent " Christ Crucified" are beyond all praise. Among 
the modern, I was delighted with the " Hagar in the Wilder- 
ness" and some landscapes near by; went over the Chateau 
D'Aremberg. Its Gallery is the most delightful treat here ; 
every picture, perhaps in all three hundred, is a gem. Murray 
talks thereon at length. Its apartments are furnished magnifi- 
cently. Then through the Conservatory of the Jardin Botani- 
que, which is small and recent, though well arranged. Next to 
the Entrepot, not far off, to view the Exposition des Arts des 
Beiges opened last week, occurring every six years. It was an 



114 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

immense and magnificent display ; its Laces and Gold and Sil- 
ver work and the productions of every known art, where beyond 
conception, each specimen is worthy almost of a volume for its 
wonderful perfection and beauty. After dinner took Rails and 
arrived at Antwerp at about 10 P. M. and drove to the Hotel de 
Grand Laboureur on the Place de Meir. 

20th. — Started off early lionizing : went first to the Cathe- 
dral ; like every body else, I wondered at its beautiful paint- 
ings, and wood carvings of the Choir and Confessionals ; and 
its exquisitely wrought Tower, light as fairy work, but one 
of the loftiest in the world. I went up as far as the gallery, 
where are the Chimes, which in their machinery resemble 
that of an enormous Organ a la Savoyard. They played 
every quarter of an hour, and as I entered were playing the 
Thema of Lucia di Lammermoor ; on the stroke of the hours 
they play a full air with variations : Their music sounds like 
a full choir. The view from this gallery is grand. I saw 
Brussels, Malines, Bergen op Zoom and Flushing, in the 
distance, and at my feet, quaint, silent old Antwerp ; once 
when this lofty Tower was raised, alive with industry, but 
now imbecile, dull, and still as its own canals. I then went 
oyer the Church of St. Paul. Its wood carvings are beyond 
praise. At the Transept as you enter, there is a confession- 
al in carving : The centre — Christ ascending, half length size, 
borne up by angels : medallions of the two weeping Mary's 
on either side ; in front, four full sized figures, and particu- 
larly the priest in his full vestments, and the Virgin holding 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 115 

her corsets in her hand. One side of the Church is covered 
with paintings, one or two by Rubens : then to the musee. 
This gallery has about a dozen paintings by Rubens : The 
Crucifixion is on your left as you enter : It is wonderful ; I 
looked at it for a long while ; and the expression of shrieking 
agony in the Thief on the right, and the shrinking leg as he 
tears it from the nail, the soldier breaking his leg, the Joseph 
in his beautiful red robe averting his eye, in horror ; the Ma- 
ry's eyes red with weeping, the Magdalen with her angelic 
face, and both hands lifted, supplicating mercy from the cen- 
turion, with one arm behind the Cross,"as if embracing it ; 
whilst the Roman, leaning upon his crossed hands, watches 
with deep '^interest the Soldier breaking the legs. In the 
centre the Saviour hangs placid and resigned ; his eyes are 
about closing as if expiring. I thought I could see pale 
Death stealing over his outstretched body, which alone is 
a miracle of painting — then the Soldier on the left, dashing 
the spear into his'side, and the warm blood starting from 
the wound ; and the poor thief on the left, writhing his legs 
about the cross : it took me long to be assured it was art. 
This is his master-piece — and this is his city. Near by, 
hangs a modern picture of " Rubens dying ;" — the opened 
casement shows the beautiful Cathedral-Tower, and the 
figures and all are excellent. There are, perhaps, three 
hundred of the other masters of the Flemish school, here ; 
but all more or less inferior to the crucifixion. His next 
greatest work here, to my taste, is " Christ showing himself 



116 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

to Thomas ; exhibiting the heavenly countenance of our Lord, 
with the wonderful effect of those opening hands, showing the 
wounds, and the eager and reverential gaze of the disciples. 
Here are also many fine Vandycks ; but, are they not all 
written in John Murray 1 

I then went over the Church of St. Jacques. It is rich 
in marbles, Vandycks, and Jourdaens, and those exquisite 
wood carvings behind the altar. I stood here upon the 
family vault of Rubens. Coming out, passed through the 
Place Verte, to admire the beautiful new bronze statue of 
Rubens, erected in eighteen hundred and forty; then along 
the Quais, and, passing the fine house of Rubens, and the 
Hotel de Ville, home. 

21st. At 6, P. M., here I am in Amsterdam. Started 
this morning at 4, A. M., from Antwerp, on board a fine 
Steamer, and sailed along quickly enough, though slowly, 
up the Scheldt and Meuse, passing by Dort, and some little 
villages, Bergen op Zoom and William Stadt. The country 
is a dead flat ; the view is unbroken for many miles, save 
by the Canals and Treckschuyts, the eternal windmills, 
and the straight mile-long rows of poplars and willows. 
At Bath, a small frontier fort, we enter Holland, and the 
Custom House Officer boards. The whole scene for about 
eighty miles was as above. The towns are of course seen 
for miles off, and the signal of their vicinity is the increa- 
ing number of windmills, which are ancient and quaint 
enough in their structure, bearing dates as early as sixteen 



DIARY OF A TOUR IX EUROPE. 117 

hundred and twelve and eternally flinging about their broad 
arms. Rotterdam was reached about 12, M. The river 
here is scarce a stone's throw wide ; the view of the town 
which I gained in the hour I waited there for the Rail, 
was pleasing from its likeness to old New York. I return 
thither ; taking the Rails at 3, P. M. in the diligence 
or first class car, which is larger, though built like the 
English, for Amsterdam, where I arrived as above. We 
passed through the lovliest country, cultivated like a private 
garden, every foot of earth cultivated ; passing through and 
stopping at Haarlem, the Hague and Leyden and Dort ; 
the first two, seeming beautiful cities. I had but fly- 
ing glimpses of them from the cars ; drove to the Hotel des 
Pays bas, and retired early. 

22d. — There are but few lions here. The Gallery of 
Paintings ; the Palace and the old Church, are all. I went 
to the first and last ; the second has rather an imposing ex- 
terior, with a fine freize on the pediment ; but within, as I 
was informed, but little else than old and faded relics of 
former greatness, were to be seen. The paintings are quite 
numerous ; some dozen by Rembrandt. I could not help 
liking his " Night Watch," ; and many excellent Cuyps, and 
Wouverman's ; many Teniers, particularly, his " Tempta- 
tion of St. Anthony," and many others — all by the Dutch 
Masters. The old Church has some fine stainings ; two 
organs, the first being in a superb marble gallery, looking 
very much out of place, in this architecture, which is a 



118 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

strange medley of Gothic and Dutch styles. It was an an- 
cient Cathedral ; but it is now plain white, and deprived of 
all ornament. In what might have been the ancient choir, 
is an enclosure of a Chapel for marriage and baptism. The 
monuments are in bad taste. Afterwards called on Miss 
W., in the Heeren Gasse, and spent some hour or so look- 
ing about the town. It is very curious. Of course, it is a 
Venice, but of the Dutch species, and nothing could be 
more disagreeable than the odor from the stagnant waters of 
the canals. I left Amsterdam about 4, P. M., and, by the 
same rails, went back to the Hague. Drove to the Oude 
Doelen, a charming hotel ; took a little stroll around the 
town, wrote up letters, etc., and retired. 

23d. — Consulting as usual, immortal Murray — by his 
guidance I went to the beautiful Gothic Halls of the Palace 
of the King ; they are immensely large, and like, but richer 
than Hampton Court; hung throughout with Dutch and 
Flemish masters. Here is Ruben's " Christ, and the money 
of Caesar;" admired the fine [old head on the right, and 
that of the man offering the money ; the uplifted hand of 
the Saviour, and the whole group of twelve, gazing so 
earnestly on Christ ; and next to it is Murillo's " Ascend- 
ing Virgin ;" it is finer than the similar subject by him in 
London. Rembrandt's "Grand Vizier ;" many beautiful 
Cuyps ; some fine Dutch Historical Pictures, and also 
some Statuary : then, to the Musee Royal. Here is the 
largest collection of the Dutch masters in the world ; G. 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 119 

Deuw's " Woman with a Lamp" looking out of a -window ; 
Linglebach's "Depart de Charles II., from Scheviningen;" 
Paul Potter's wonderful " Cattle Piece ;" Rembrandt's 
" Lesson of Anatomy;" Ruben's "Venus and Adonis;" 
his " Confessor," an astonishing portrait ; Tenier's " Kitch- 
en," and "Alchyniist," and "Temptation of St. Anthony ;" 
a dozen Wouverman's; Cigiani's "Adam and Eve;" a 
"French Head, after Carlo Dolci," Giordaud's "Concert" 
of his servants; Guido's "Death of Abel;" Salvator 
Rosa's " Prometheus and Sisyphus," and his landscapes, 
perhaps three hundred in all ; down stairs, to the charming 
gallery of curiosities, from Japan and China ; and also, 
historical mementos, beautifully arranged, immense in 
extent, and very interesting. Returning to the Hotel, met 
Mr. George P., nephew of the dentist in New York, and 
dentist to the court here ; we walked out together, through 
the beautiful park, to the " Maison de Bois," a summer 
palace of the King. It is furnished somewhat like the 
Trianons ; and there is one room here covered entire, dome 
and sides, with the most magnificent paintings, by Rubens 
and his pupils ; the grand triumphal procession, which faces 
you as you enter, is the most astonishing group, containing 
nearly one hundred figures of life size, in no confusion, and 
of exquisite color and action; admired the sea nymphs, 
pausing to hail the Prince on the right, the Nine Muses on 
either side of the door way, and the armor which seems to 
hang out of the wall. It is a grand historical allegory, and 



120 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

fresh as of yesterday. After dinner we drove down to 
Scheviningen, their beautiful sea side baths, and -within 
three miles from the city ; the fine hotels, beach, and scene, 
are like our Rockaway. It was curious to see the fishing 
boats come in from the North Sea, throw out their anchors, 
and be floated into line by the motion of the waves ; and the 
crowd of fish women with their coal scuttle bonnets, and 
gold head-bands, receiving and assorting their [fish, which 
they buy at the little auction held here, on the beach, when 
a man with a striped pole, in the centre of the group, cries 
out the highest price, and they beat down. The whole 
scene, with the dull fishing boats, realized Backhuysen and 
Lingelbach's pictures. They take the fish to the Hague 
upon dog carts, daily ; they form a peculiar race. Re- 
turned home late. 

24th. — By invite, partook of a dejeuner a la fourchette, 
with Major Davezac, our Charge d' Affaires here ; I left 
him at about 1, P. M., and took carriage with Mr. P., and 
drove over their clinker-made roads, the best in the world, 
through an exquisite country, passing the summer palaces 
of the court and nobility, for seven miles, to Kartwyck, on 
tho sea ; where the great sluices are constructed to feed all 
the canals of Holland. The works are splendid : the soil of 
the bank is kept together by a front of willow — chevaux de 
frize — the stones are brought from Norway ; and all the 
canals flow into this. Windmills are all over at work, to 
raise currents in the canals, driving the water out and in. 






DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 121 

It is curious to see the level of the sea, some feet higher 
than the water of this great canal; nothing but these 
massive stone gates preserve Holland. This place is also a 
fishing ground, and summer resort, and very pleasant ; near 
by, are curious and antique salt works. The sea-water is 
pumped up into a long shallow trough, about forty feet high, 
one hundred feet long, and twelve feet wide ; with apertures, 
through which it filters down on a mass of willow twigs, upon 
which the salt incrusts and dries ; their bathing cars are 
curious ; they are high, and four wheeled, with nice rooms, 
etc. ; and in front, is a large and strong frame, covered with 
sail-cloth, and moveable, like a carriage top ; they let the 
carriage down into the water, and then bathe under its 
shelter; we came home about half-past 7, P. M. Some 
twenty horses passed the door, to market, tied together, head 
and tail ; they are here, a very dull, slow animal, with 
heavy, broad hoof, and lifting it very high, drawing heavy 
carriages, and make about six miles an hour. The whole 
city seems inundated with poor ; it is, like the rest of Europe, 
overstocked. The cattle of the country seem the most beau- 
tiful in the world, so admirably clean and neat, and well 
taken care of. They have a peculiar cow, called the sheet 
cow ; from the broad white color in the middle of the back : 
the rest of the body being totally black, and looking as if a 
sheet were thrown over them ; they yield often two gallons 
of milk daily. Saw the King yesterday, in the grounds of 
the palace, alighting from his horse, attended only by his 



122 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

groom ; lie was in military costume, and too distant to see 
his features ; he has built fine barracks here, and keeps up 
his palaces in fine style. The army numbers twenty thou- 
sand ; every man here, is obliged to serve in the army, or 
find a substitute. 

25th. — Called in the morning on Major Davezac, pp c : 
afterwards went with P. to Haarlem ; and heard the great 
organ play for an hour, most wonderfully : the imitation of 
a thunder shower was startlingly true ; and the grand tones 
of the march from Norma seemed like three or four of 
Costa's orchestras combined. The [church is curious 
enough, paved with grave stones ; with quaint brass chande- 
liers ; . curious ship's models, hanging from the ceiling ; and 
the Baptismal Chapel has many grotesque carvings ; it is 
built Cathedral-wise, with a quaint spire, and chimes. The 
square in which it stands, is lined about with the quaintest 
buildings ; the Stadthaus, Markthaus, etc. ; and here is a good 
statue of Coster, for whom they claim the invention of 
printing. After dinner, arriving too late at the station 
for the Rotterdam train waited over till the 9, P. M., 
train. In the interim, walked out into the beautifnl woods, 
or Park here : it is the Park of the Summer Palace, built 
by Louis Napoleon : small, and rich, like Chatsworth. This 
Park is full of green alleys, like an English rural paradise ; 
it is the continuation of the same beautiful Park, through 
which we drove to Kartwyck. It extends, in a belt of 
woodland, from Rotterdam to Amsterdam ; the best houses, 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 123 

a la campagne, are on it, and, with their pretty Tea Pavil- 
ions, nothing can be finer. On either side, stretching away 
for miles, are these rich meadows — a prairie of full, fresh 
grain and grass, with those cattle. It is a perfect garden ; 
and a picture for Claude. The tulip season had passed, but 
the roses were out in great beauty. 

They have an immense octroi duty to all cities, by which 
they charge even thirty florins a cow. It is cheaper far to 
send the cattle to England. Meat was twenty-five cents a 
pound in the market here. The Lime, Linden, and Elm, 
are the principal trees ; Oaks are not frequent — perhaps the 
soil is too light for them. The Dutch take great care of 
their cattle ; you see a cow which has just calved, if in the 
field, protected by a sort of jacket of sail cloth. The calf 
is always raised by hand ; and ten miles travel a day, is 
thought enough for a horse ; they have an odd custom in sho- 
ing horses : a bolt protrudes, and a wooden bar passes over 
it, on which the hoof rests, tied up by a rope, while the 
head is haltered by a chain. Everywhere you see the Do- 
minee passing, with his cocked hat ; the Ansprecker, in simi- 
lar dress, but with many streamers of crape, announcing a 
death, and inviting to funerals ; and upon the door-knock- 
ers, you see a square of lace, prettily worked, looking like a 
cushion, announcing a birth in the house. If the cen- 
tre is worked with flowers, it is a girl. We walked through 
the picturesque and fortified gateway, here ; and from the 
bridge, the view along the ramparts down the pretty canals, 



124 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

at the quaint gate towers, which are like the old London 
Tower, and at the beautiful town, embosomed in rich foli- 
age, with its quaint spires, and now and then, a whole street 
coming into view, looking old, buried, and sleeping, like an- 
other Pompeii ; was extremely fine. 

26th. — Showery ; at home, writing letters, etc. Wrote 
to S. N. D. : took 6, P. M., train to Rotterdam. Spent 
the night here at the Bath Hotel. 

27th. — At 7, A. M., started in the Netherland Steam 
Ship for Cologne, price, 7fl. TOc. ; a fine large boat. All 
the scenery below Cologne, is exceedingly dull and stupid. 
In fact, there are nothing but dead flats, and miserable vil- 
lages. The first night, at about 8, P. M., arrived at Ein- 
meric, a curious little village ; the Prussian frontier, where 
we passed the night. 

28th. — Started this morning at half-past 5, P. M. ; sail- 
ed along through similar scenery, till about 8, P. M., when 
we arrived at Cologne. The tide, and the turns of the 
river, make the ascent very slow, lasting nearly four days : 
the descent is in one day. There were not many passen- 
gers ; but all of different nations and languages, and an odd 
set ; went to Hotel Royal. 

29th. — Meeting the same English gentlemen, as at the 
Hague ; the brothers, Cooper, of Finchley, we sallied out 
sight-seeing, going first to St. Cunibert's, then to St. Ge- 
reons, St. Ursulas, and to the Cathedral, before dinner. 
Afterwards visited the Jesuit's Church ; the gallery of 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 125 

modern pictures, and St. Mary's, in the Capitol. I took 
care to go to Farina's new store, and buy some genuine Eau 
de Cologne, and had full enough sights for one day ; wrote 
a note to P., enquiring about letters, etc., and retired early. 
30th. — Took Dusseldorf Co's steamer, paying four tha- 
lers for a passage to Mayence. The river here, for the 
first time, grew interesting. The Seven Mountains soon ap- 
pear, covered with vines, and now and then a fine ruin on the 
top ; the scenery is beautiful ; the river winds so often, that 
you have new views continually. Passed the castled crag of 
Drachenfels, but the whole is not so fine as the scenery on 
our Hudson. Arrived at Coblentfo- at 12, P. M. ; stopped "2/ 
at Hotel du Geant. After dinner, drove out along the beau- 
tiful banks, for four miles to the Konigshill, and Stoltzenfels ; 
the first is nothing but a lofty stone, with a pretty view of 
the Laach, River and valley, and the latter, nobly situated 
on a lofty crag, is a modern summer-house of the King ; 
quite small, with some pretty things in bronzes, pictures, 
etc., and no way remarkable except for its views of the 
Rhine. As we arrived at the hotel, a funeral of a young 
girl, was passing the door. First came the Acolytes, swing- 
ing censers ; next a priest, bearing the white cross, and two 
priests following; all in white vestments. The coflfinwas of 
white, in papier mache, covered with garlands of orange flow- 
ers, borne by four young girls in black, and surrounded by 
about thirty girls in black, with veils, each bearing a. lighted 
candle, walking slowly on either side, and the men followed 



126 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

behind : it was beautiful. In the evening went over the 
river to the Fortress of Ehrelbeitstien ; saw the sun set 
superbly,*and a panorama of scenery, like that of our West 
Point, formed by the Moselle, Laach, and Rhine. I can 
never forget it. All about me were groups of the Prussian 
soldiers, singing together in parts from the notes, their 
beautiful national, and military airs. Their new uniform, 
of the Roman helmet and short blue frock coats, looks well, 
and is somewhat classic. 

SIst. — Took steamer again at 8, A. M., and sailed on to 
Bieberich, arriving about 4, P. M. This was one of the 
finest sails I have ever had. The scenery now rose into 
grandeur ; the vine-clad mountains springing sheer from the 
water's edge, and by the continual winding of the river, 
locking it into a succession of lovely lakes. Here were 
many fine ruins ; the Rheinfels, Rheinstein, etc. ; the love- 
ly town of Oberwesel, with the old ruined Castle on the hill, 
and the quaint Castle just below in the middle of the river. 
We took the omnibus at Beberich, and drove over to the 
lovely valley of Wiesbaden, to the Hotel de la Rose. In the 
lovely evening, strolled through the Park, and grounds, and 
in the Kursaal, and retired early. 

Aug. 1st. — Sunday — Rose early, at 6 A. M. Was 
among the crowd who come from all parts of the city, cup 
in hand to the Kochbumnen. I tried the water, which is of 
hot sulphuretted hydrogen; and found it of course very 
unpleasant. Walked out of the town by the beautiful 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 127 

Acacia-lined avenue called the Tannus Gasse, and crowd- 
ed like a Broadway. Returning, followed the fashion 
here, and took a bath ; which are built of stone handsomely, 
and are in every hotel. Went to the English church here ; 
quite crowded ; dined at the Kursaal ; about 200 present ; 
the music was fine, and a good dinner. It was an exceed- 
ingly warm day, and I contented myself to sit in the shade 
for hours, watching the happy multitude promenading about, 
and listening to the splendid band. Towards evening took 
carriage, and drove up to La Platte, the Duke's hunting 
seat, eighteen hundred feet above the Rhine, upon the sum- 
mit of the mountain opposite ; a neat and beautiful house, 
with a view of about forty miles in circuit. The sun had 
just set when I arrived, but its dying glories of pearl and 
ruby tints were over Mayence, Wiesbaden, and Coblentz, 
and the winding river. There is a suite of apartments here 
entirely, and beautifully furnished with furniture made of 
horns of the stags of the Duke's herd of one thousand in 
the woods around it. Returned about 10, P.M., and re- 
tired. 

2nd. — Took the 8 A.M. rails to Frankfort; arrived at 
10, P.M., at Hotel de Russie. Spent a charming hour at the 
Musee ; where are Lessings Huss, and Ezzelin, the bas reliefs, 
Steinle's distemper paintings, some Flemish pictures, and 
superb ceilings. Saw the Ariadne and the Goethe. It be- 
came so excessively warm as to render it impossible to 
move out. At 6, P. M., took the Taunus grand Ducal 



128 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

Baden rails to Heidelberg, arriving at 9, P.M. ; fare 2 fl. 
33. It goes through the land of Romance : on the left run 
the mountains, every peak crowned with a castle, now but 
ivy-clad ruins; and on your right spreads an immense 
plain in the richest culture. It is harvest time ; and the 
women are busy reaping and loading the wains. The har- 
vest is full. The fruit trees are so heavy as to require to 
be propped, and nothing can look finer than the 'grasses^: 
there are no fences, and no field division. Drove to Hotel 
de Hollande : retired early : at Frankfort met G. S. H. 
from Boston. 

3d. — Arrived at Heidelberg in the evening, and this 
morning, taking an early breakfast, with an appetite sharp- 
ened by the keen mountain air, walked up the hill to the 
Castle, arriving there about 9, A. M., and staid till 2 ; 
dining at the Restauration, in the Schloss Garten. One 
good picture will describe this superb ruin better than lan- 
guage. • The best view is from the corner of the garden, on 
the Neckar side, where I sat for an hour or more, looking at 
the octagon Tower, and the front terrace, with the lofty 
mountains behind, and the curious town at its foot ; the 
Gesprengte Thurm, and the beautiful river, now very shal- 
low ; (in eighteen hundred and forty-five it was thirty feet 
higher), and the opposite mountains. Coming down, passed 
the plain buildings of the University. Some students were 
loitering about, but the term was over : took the train at 
4 30, P. M., to Baden-Baden : arriving about 8, P. M., at 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 129 

Badnischer Hof, passed through delightful scenery, like that 
of yesterday to Oos the Junction, and then to the deep val- 
ley of Baden-Baden ; went out to the Conversation Haus ; a 
most superb building. Its grand colonnade was crowded 
with the gay of all nations. Its saloon richly frescoed and 
about two hundred feet long with magnificent chandeliers ; 
here thousands in full dress were walking ; the most splendid 
galaxy I have ever seen. Of course at one end were the 
gambling tables, and there sat superb and handsome ladies, 
with the deepest anxiety on their faces. One can never for- 
get this scene ; and the view of that rich salon a jouer from 
without was superb. Attached to this building are cafes, 
restaurants &c, like Wiesbaden, but of course far grand- 
er. On the right, the theatre, near the Trinkhalle, built in 
similar style, and the Ursprung. Returned to my lodgings 
about eleven P. M. 

4th. — Took the 7 15 train to Strasbourg ; arriving about 
ten P. M., and at Kehl about nine. Breakfasted and took 
the 11 30 train to Basle, passing by the Vosges mountains, 
all the way and arrived about 4 30, at the Hotel des Trois 
Rois ; passed the evening with Mr. Conti, our Consul here, in 
their garden very pleasantly. 

5th. — Went over the old church here ; very ancient and 
curious, with its rare stone carved pulpit ; and then through 
the Holbein gallery. He seems to have been a Rubens and a 
Raphael combined. The series of his paintings of the Sacred 
History, from the Temptation in the Garden to the Cruci- 



130 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

fixion, and the Dance of Death are here, and also portraits of 
himself, of Luther, and Erasmus. How bright their colors 
are ! How beautiful their drawings ! Went into the room 
where sat the great council of Basle. The old chests for 
their Acta and their old beds are still there, of the era of 
1450, and still unaltered. Took the diligence at two and a 
half P. M. for Neuchatel. All the way, we drove through 
the Minister Thai, a famed mountain pass. Continual 
precipices beckoned over us, many hundred feet high with 
fierce mountain torrents, and everywhere the winding road 
seems locked in by impenetrable mountains. Rode all night. 
7th. — About nine A.M. arrived at Neuchatel and stopped 
at Hotel des Alps. Called on Mr. B. at his fine mansion 
house here. Received many letters from S. W. D., R., D., 
B., F., C. andD. ; and all were answered by the ninth inst. ; 
and also at the same time wrote to Mr. M. Spent the rest 
of the day in writing and reading letters. 
6th. — Rainy ; letter writing, &c. 

8th. — Fine Sunday. After dinner, Brustlein, Beguin and 
I went up the mountain of Chaumont on foot, a walk of five 
miles, very severe work, but the view up there, and down 
through this valley and on the other side is magnificent. 
Three Lakes, Neuchatel, Brienz, and Morat with their towns 
and villages, and the far off Alps, the Jungfrau, Mont Blanc 
and the whole range of the Bernese Oberland.. 
, 9th. — Very much fatigued ; to day it is rainy, staid at 
home, letters &c. ; among others wrote enclosing introduc- 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 131 

tion to G. G. Fendler and Co., at Nuremberg, saying I would 
be tliere, between the tenth and fifteenth of December, and 
asking them to receive my letters ; also, likewise enclosed in- 
troduction to Mr. Donelson, envoy at Berlin, saying I 
would be tliere shortly after the 15th of September, and ask- 
ing him to keep my letters, also, likewise to Mr. Stiles, our 
Charge at Vienna, saying I expect to be there, about the 
first of October, and to keep letters enclosing introductions. 

10th. — Morning, letter writing as usual. Dined with 
party at Mr. Brustlein's, and rode up Chaumont again. 

11th. Unwell ; at home, letter writing. 

12th. — Morning, enclosed pictures and memoranda, by 
the hand of Mr. Kue$ghi, to be delivered to A. in London, to 
be forwarded home ; also a letter to do ; also a letter to Tupper 
to be posted. In the afternoon took a fine drive with Mr. 
Beguin; returned about nine P. M., fatigued and retired 
early. 

Aug. 13th. All day letter writing. Supped and spent 
the evening with Mr. Brustlein. 

14th. — Busy in the morning packing. Mr. Kuenghi left 
to-day, taking our letters with him and also the bundle for 
R. Dined with Mr. Brustlein ; at 5 P. M. took the dil- / 
igence which stopped here for me. and sitting in the couple Q> 
enjoyed a fine ride in beautiful weather through smiling har- 
vest fields, and fine scenery, and arrived at Fribourg at Zah- 
ringen Hof about 10 P. M. 

15th. — After walking about this curious mountain-built 



132 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

city, went in the St. Nicholas Church and stayed through 

the sendee. As I entered, a priest in animated language 
was preaching an incendiary Catholic appeal in German — 

this is the prevailing language here. When he ceased, the 
organ began with a fine choir, and discoursed most superb 
music. Although not played for exhibition, it showed greater 
power and sweetness than the organ at Haarlem. The 
church is large but tawdry. After service walked over the 
stupendous wire bridges. To-day was the "fete a la Vierge," 
and the military were gathering as I got into the diligence, 
at 3 P. M., for Vevay, to join the procession. This place is 
the Jesuit stronghold ; filled with convents and priests every- 
where. The Landwehr or militia, and other volunteers para- 
ded past us. They are now organizing on account of the 
apprehended war. Seven Catholic cantons are arrayed 
against the sixteen Protestant cantons. A heavy rain came 
on, and no doubt interfered with the day's gala. Rode 
through superb mountain scenery ; passing through Bulle, 
arrived at Vevay, at the Hotel des Trois Couronnes, at 
eleven P. M. 

16th. — Took a carriage early, and drove through Clarcus 
which Byron has named " the birth-place of sweet love," and 
Montreux ; passing the Bosquet de Julie to Chillon ; I saw 
everything there ; it is a prison yet ; six state prisonsers are 
there now, and an arsenal. Came back on an exceeding 
warm day, and went to church St. Martin ; plain enough, 
but here are the tombs of the exiled English patriots Lud- 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 133 

low and Broughton ; what a pity that they have put hum- 
drum epitaphs on them ! After dinner took the Helvetic 
steamer and enjoyed a very warm afternoon sail through 
fine scenery upon lake Leman to Geneva ; arrived about 
seven P. M. ; stopped at Hotel des Bergues. 

17th. — After a sleepless night through the excessive heat 
walked about the city, which is really beautiful, from its situ- 
ation. It is a little Paris, and these three bridges, and little 
island, and the swift blue waters of the river Rhone, dashing 
through and around. After dinner having previously left my 
name and Zurich address at the post office, L'Ecu, and des 
Bergues, and at the English News Room, walked out beyond 
the ramparts, to the junction of the Arve and the Rhone. It 
is a lovely picture, and I enjoyed it with some intelligent 
English barristers. It grew too warm to stay here with 
comfort, so took coupe in the diligence for Chamouni. 

18th. — Six A. M. Very fine, though warm ; started for 
Chamouni and Mount Blanc, sending on my trunk, to Mar- 
tigny. It was a grand ride ; an Alpine pass throughout , 
but the best scenery is beyond Sallenches, with its torrents 
and precipices. Walked a good deal of the way. Arrived 
at Chamouni about seven and a half P. M. ; the house was 
very full ; lodged at the Nouvelle Couronne — a very nice 
house. 

19th. — Started about 10 A. M. for Mountanvert upon a 
mule and arrived in about two hours. Walked out a long 
way upon the Mer de Glace. It is indeed a novel and sub- 



134 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

lime sight, but you must scramble to the Jardin, before you 
see its whole extent of thirty miles. After dinner ■went to 
the Cascade des Peleriijls ; rather small, a mere fountain, but 
threatening to become a mighty torrent. The exquisite sun- 
set and moonlight delightfully tinged the snows. 

20th. With my mule, La Marquise, again ascended La 
Flegere. From here I enjoyed the grandest view, and the 
only good one you can have here, of the peaks and vastness 
of Mont Blanc. The road is very bad and precipitous. 
Came home much fatigued ; weather not so fine as the nine- 
teenth. 

21st. — Started early for Martigny, over the pass of La 
A 
Tete Noire. This is the grandest thing yet ; the view from 

La Couronne, and the hill above the Rhone Valley, the Sim- 
plon Road and St. Bernard are magnificent ; made the jour- 
ney in seven and a half hours. Drove to Hotel de la Poste. 

22d. — Sunday. Spent the day very quietly in my room ; 
rainy ; with the exception of a short drive out to a beautiful 
mountain torrent on the Simplon. Sent my trunk on to Inter - 
lachen. 

23d. — Took diligence supplement ; a fine carriage at about 
nine and a half A. M. and drove to Leukbourg. Arrived 
about eight P. M. ; it is a miserable village, but obtained 
tolerable chambers at the Hotel Stern. 

24th. — Mounted a horse early over the mountains to 
Leukbad ; arriving about ten A. M., through a wild moun- 
tain pass. Here are several good hotels and a squalid village 



DIARA OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 135 

some 5000 feet up the mountain of the Gemmi. The glaciers 
and peaks are all around us. The day was very foggy and 
wet. After dejeuner a la fourchette spent some three or four 
hours, looking at the people soaking in the bath. The water 
about 124 deg. Fahrenheit. Men and women together lay 
and flounder about here for six hours a day ; on floating ta- 
bles take coffee and play draughts, throw water at each other, 
skim plates, ; some lie the whole time up to their necks, 
quietly smoking their cigars, &c. ; three weeks is called the 
time of a cure ; the price is fifteen francs. There are seve- 
ral baths of different depths, and a great many rules ; and 
all are obliged to wear long dresses. It was a funny scene, 
and of rather questionable morality. There were in all about 
a dozen in. Two old grey nuns, a handsome young Italian 
girl, and the rest were French and Germans. The season is 
closing ; a fortnight since, there were eighty persons bathing 
here. Stopped at the Hotel des Alpes, which communicated 
by a covered gallery with the bath-house. 

24th. — Started about 7 A. M. ; a horse carrying my sac 
de nuit, for the Gemmi pass. Mr. P. from Manchester with 
me ; very foggy and cold ; the journey is severe ; full of ter- 
rific ascents and precipices, over the ice and snow, and among 
the glaciers ; a singular lake at the top. Walked nearly the 
whole way; this is the worst pass here. The road winds around 
upon the narrow slippery brink of vast abysses. The wea- 
ther was too bad to enjoy much prospect. At the top it 
was quite clear, whilst the clouds below were raining upon 



136 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

Leukbad. Got to Kandersteg, about two and half P. M. ; 
in six hours walking. Hired a carriage there, and drove on 
to Frutigen, where we dined capitally in six courses for only 
two and a half francs ! and arrived at Interlachen, at the 
Hotel Belvidere, about nine P. M., after a hard day's work ; 
very bad weather. 

26th. — After breakfast received my trunk which had just 
arrived from Martigny : wrote up journal in the morning. 

Afternoon drove over to Lauterbrunnen ; bad weather, but 
the valley and the cascades were beautiful ; dined at the 
Hotel_du Capricorne, capitally ; evening at home : rainy. 

27th. — Rain pouring in torrents ; Mr. P. left early for 
Berne. In my room writing letters ; wrote to S., to N. D. and 
mailed at Zurich. 

28th. — Weather better ; though still doubtful. At eleven 
A. M., took the little steamer to Brienz in about one and a 
half hours ; took porters and guide, and ascended the Brun- 
igh on foot ; the pass not very high, say about 4000 feet, and 
a good three hours' walk. The views as you ascend are 
fine ; I can never forget that of the vale of Meyringen, 
with Lac Brienz in the distance, its Alpine torrents and 
its mountain walls ; it realised Milton's image of Eden. 
On the summit met Mr. S. on horseback, coming from Lun- 
gcrn, where I soon after arrived, then in a carriage drove by 
the lakes of Lungern and Sarnem, with superb views of the 
Wetterhorn and Faulhorn. Arrived at Alpnach and lake 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 137 

Lucern, about eight and a half P. M. in a heavy rain ; quar- 
tered at the little inn Cheval Blanc very comfortably. 

29th. — At five and a half A. M., got into a small boat 
with three rowers for Lucerne where we arrived at eight A. 
M. Weather became fine again ; this sail is one of the finest 
I have ever had ; the pull was first up Alpnacii Bay and un- /X^/ 
der old Pilatus, then rounding an old tower, shot out into the 
broad expanse of the lake guarded on the right by the 
Righi which is the portal to the other arm of the lake, 
leading to Altorf ; turning many little rocky capes, each 
with its shrine, till at last Luzerne, with its quaint towers and 
neat white houses came in view. I had a row of twelve miles 
and "good work. The mists were clearing away, and the 
early morning tints were upon the landscape. On [landing, 
took my seat in the diligence to Zurich, leaving at jnine A. 
M. Breakfasted at the Schweizer Hof and crossed the Pic- 
ture Bridge here, filled with the quaintly dressed peasants go- 
ing to mass ; took seat in the diligence, and rode over a richly 
cultivated country, passing near by the town, a fresh breast- 
work, yetjjbnfinished, stopping at Zug to dine, and arrived at 
Zurich, about four and a half P. M. What a lovely view 
there is from the hills above the city. Took a little stroll 
about the lovely lake-side, to watch the fairy steamers and 
chaloupes, each bearing the canton color of the white cross on 
a red ground. Tea and journalized. 

30th. — Called at Mr. Muralts, Bureau de Bauquier. 
He was at his country house ; found there only a letter from 



j38 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 



D., Aug. 13th, and one from B. 18th inst, and spent the rest 
of the day letter writing ; wrote to B. 

31st. — Morning, still letter writing. 

Evening as last eve, at the Reading Room here, of the 
Museum, Muralt having sent me an order of admission, and 
took a row, out on Zurich's sweet waters. 

Sep. 1st. — Rec'd letter from:B. ; and with dates forward 
on route to Vienna. Fine day ; enjoyed a beautiful walk be- 
fore dinner, calling upon Mr. Bodmer, and after dinner had 
another exquisite row upon the Lake at Sunset ; from the 
Hohe Promenade ; to-day, had a superb view of the Alps. 
Mont Blanc's snowy head was entirely uncovered. To-mor- 
row for Schafihausen. 

Sep. 2. — At 6 A. M., got in the Diligence for Schafihau- 
sen ; rather a pleasant drive, through a rich country, talking 
German with some Harlaem Ladies, on the way, arrived 
about 11 ; Drove to Hotel Webber in front of the Rheinfall. 
It is a pretty cascade broken by rocks, but the finest thing 
is the Landscape along and down the river. After dinner, 
called and left introduction and card for Sealsfield : he was 
then out of town, walked about the curious old place. In the 
evening received a note from Sealsfield : concluded to stay to- 
morrow. 

3d. After breakfast, Mr. Sealsfield came to see me, and 
we spent the day together. He is a tall man, square-built, 
heavy, German looking, and aquiline features, spectacles, and 
speaks in broken English : took me down the town to his 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 139 

rooms. He told me his history. Born in Lousiana forty- 
eight years ago, his mother was German : when a young man 
he came toNew York : wrote for the Courier des Etats Unis for 
some time, then was engaged on the Courier and Enquirer, and 

about 1826 wrote his first book, a Romance called Tokay, or the 
White Rose. It was published by Carey's in Phila., but 

Cooper being then in the zenith, and Carey's also his pub- 
lishers, this book, which was an imitation of Cooper's style, 
was not succsssful ; about 1830, he came to Europe, and af- 
ter travelling in England, and on the Continent, settled for 
the winter in Baden, (Switz'd.) He could not then speak 
German, but had a valet who could, and there by his help, 
translated Tokay into German, wrote two new volumes, ma- 
king in all 3 volumes in two months, and offered it to Fuscli, 
in Zurich. They at first gave him 1500 Fr. conditioned to 
be paid three'months after publication ; and forfeit if not ori - 
ginal. The book succeeded. He has gone on writing, but 
up to a few years past, anonymously, being called here the 
Great Unknown ; he has written thus far, twenty-four Vols. ; 
his compensation has gone on increasing, till he receives 15 
Louis d'ors a mss. sheet, and he has made altogether up to 
this time, near $30,000 by his works. His investments, like 
his sympathies, are in the U. S., and he is anxious to go there, 
but his terms with his publishers, are for annual payments 
in seven years to come, and his living here is very cheap, but 
$200 per annum, and that very comfortably, being received 
into the best circles. We dined together capitally ; walked 



140 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

about the Town, and spent the evening at a Club of the No- 
bles and Bankers here, superb house ; where all drank tea 
and played Boston. We parted about 9 P. M., presenting 
me with his Cabin Book, &c., and offering to correspond, Per- 
sonally although a self made man, from his oblivion of Eng- 
lish he is not remarkably interesting Jbut his history and kind ^ 
manners were attractive. Received Letter from Tupper 
26 Aug., and also two from Brustlein, and introduction at 
Munich from Bodmer. 

4th. Started at T A. M., on board the little steamer. — 
Weather rainy and cold, for Lindau. The scenery was not 
of interest. Got to Constance about 1 P. M. Slow work. 
The town is curious and prettily situated, on its Lakes, pass- 
ed the trees where John Huss was executed upon the shore ; 
took another steamer here, down the Lake, very slow work 
and delay. of three hours at Rorschach, waiting for the post; 
then arrived at Lindau about 7 P. M. Raining hard at 10 
P. M, got in Malle Poste for Kaufbeuren in Bavaria. — 

5th. Sunday. — Rode all last night, and in same weather ; 
had little or no sleep ; in an uncomfortable carriage ; about 1 
P. M., Arrived at Kaufbeuren, a small village, the pres- 
ent terminus of the Rails here ; 3 P. M., got in the cars 
for Augsburgh ; very handsome carriages, but slow ; they 
burn peat for their engines, and arrived at about 6 P. M., at 
a superb Station ; then in half an hour off again for Munich ; 
weather cleared up and we arrived about 8 1-2 P. M., at the 
Baierischer Hof, very much fatigued with 36 hours' slow and 
constant travel. 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 141 

6th. — Rose late, and wrote letters. Afternoon, spent two 
or more delightful hours in those Treasures of Art, the two 
Palaces ; passing rapidly with the crowd from room to room, 
each of different subjects, divine frescoes, tessellations, &c, 
of unequalled excellence ; it is impossible to discriminate. 
But the Queen's Apartment, and the frescoes from Schiller, 
Goethe, and Burger, and the Niebelungen Lied were the most 
delightful. 

7th. — Raining hard ; but with Dr. Wollaston, of London, 
started off sight-seeing, and first went to the Glyphothek. 
Can any one describe in a journal, one thousand perfect sta- 
tues and freizes, in Halls rivalling Grecian or Roman Art, of 
tesselated marbles 1 a perfect modern miracle. One might 
sit down for months before any of these breathing antiques. 
Then to the Pinakothek ; here are one thousand and more of 
the masters arranged in order of Schools and ages, in the 
most superb building, and Galleries frescoed, and moulded, 
that have ever been since the days of Augustus. I could on- 
ly have three hours to see them in ; but those which live 
strongest in my memory, are Ruben's Last Judgment, small 
and large, Tobias, and the Departing Angel ; Murillo's four 
pictures, the Series of Christ's Life in a Cabinet, and the 
Carlo Dolcis. Next went to the Basilico of St. Boniface ; 
not yet quite finished, and through its wonderful crypt. Its 
divine frescoes of the Saint's Life and the Missions in Germa- 
ny, the Altar Piece, the Gilding and the Renaissance work 

upon the marbles, and the beautiful Mosaic Pavement of Ba- 



142 DIARY OP A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

varian marbles, all in Byzantine style ; well be it said that 
the world has no equal. The University next ; a superb 
marble building with a grand stair case ; went into the great 
Hall with its frescoes, the emperor's statue, and the smaller 
Hall, and throughout the building ; then to the Ludwigs 
Kirche, after the style of St. Bonifacius, but^much unequal, 
though exquisitely beautiful ; then to Kaulbach, the Court 
Painter's Studio, and gazed long and delightedly on the 
"Destruction of Jerusalem," painted for the King at the 
price of $12,000, for the new Pinakothek of Modern art now 
bein<? built ; then to Schwan Thaler's Studio, and there I 
spent an hour of delight amidst his nymphs, his Vienna foun- 
tain, his Goethe, Mozart, Richter, his King, and one hundred 
others. Mr. B., Music Master of the Court, my friend Jiere, 
called after dinner. 

8th. — Mr. B. called for me after breakfast ; went togeth- 
er to the Allerheiligen Kirche, and listened to the Hallelujah 
Chorus, performed by a grand Orchestra; it was the 
Feast of the Virgin ; then to the Mittel Kirche ; then 
into the beautiful Hof Garden, and spent a delightful 
hour among the rare Ivory carvings, &c, in the Gallery 
of Antiquities ; then to the Giesserei, saw the wonderful 
Collossal Goddess of Bavaria, and Victory drawn by 
Lions, in Bronze for the Tower, at the foot of the Ludwigs 
Strasse, then to the Loggie, and listened to the military Band 
playing the music of the Opera of Belisario, and then with 
Dr. W. drove through the English garden ; it was lovely in- 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EURPOE. 143 

deed, the weather having improved ; here is an Obelisk to 
Biedermun, and to Count Rumford. Evening went to the 
Hof Theatre, and heard the Opera of Oberon. This Opera 
House is large and tasteful, with a fine Royal Box, and Vor- 
saal ; the scenery was beautiful, but the singing was poor, 
although with good Orchestra. 

9th. — At 11 A. M., took the Rails to Donauworth, through 
Augsburgh ; dull scenery ; here I remained at the Hotel 
Krebs (Grasshopper,) for five or six hours ; the view of the 
quaint old place, with its crumbling walls, from the opposite 
bank of the Danube, was very beautiful, under a fine sunset, 
gleaming on its lofty spires and Convents ; the winding river 
with its black waters, spanned by old bridges, and the beau- 
tiful Rail Road Bridge now building. At 8 1-2 P. M., got 
into the Coupe of the Eilwagen for Nuremburgh. 

Sep. 10th. — Rode all night, and arrived at 8 A. M. The 
morning was beautiful. The superbly made road ran through 
richly cultivated fields ; through many picturesque villages, 
neat and clean, filled with very industrious peasantry in quaint 
dresses, and the women were seen working in the fields. 
Went to Baieirscher Hof . Called on Mr. Fendler, and 
looked with much interest over his rare and valuable Museum. 
Received a letter from D., and some notes from Paris and to 
Geneva. After dinner, went to the Church of St Lawrence . 
a delightful treat ; it was so curious to see the Catholic Altar s 
&c, standing still untouched in a Protestant Church. The 
Town early followed Luther, but left their Churches uninjur- 



* 



144 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE 

ed ; its stained glass pleased me more than that at Rouen. 
How exquisite are that wonderful Monstrant of Adam Kraft 
and the beautiful stone carved pulpit. Here are curious Oak 
and Stone carving, and rich paintings by Wiuckelmunde, the 
master of Albert Durer, and some ancient Gobelins. Remark- 
ed the antique chains with plate, for collection, and its fine 
Nave and Stone Roof, and the rare Stone carvings on its old 
Portal. Passing a pretty fountain near by, the streams 
gushing from womens' breast, down through their picturesque 
streets, passing a quaint old market place, the Houses and 
the people looking quiet and old as in centuries fled ; passed 
the curiuos bronze fountain of a peasant holding a goose under 
either arm ; he squeezes, and they throw water from their 
mouths, he laughing heartily the while. Any one of the pea_ 
sants about me might have been the original for the figure ; 
then passed the Fountain called the Schone Brunnen, and 
went to old St. Sebalds. This is a specimen of the Saxon 
Transition, mixed with the Gothic, marking the different pe- 
riods of its erection. The only curiosity here is that beauti- 
ful bronze tomb of the Saint ; wrought by Adam Visscher, in 
the 16th century. The art of Schwanthaler cannot equal the 
life and beauty of the figures. It is large, covered with Statu- 
ettes and Reliefs of the Saint's History. Returning to Hotel 
retired early. 

Sep. 11th. — Young Mr. B., calling for me to-day as 
before, we walked through many a picture-like street, and 
about the ramparts, whose moat is now a cabbage garden. 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 145 

to the Rosenau. It is the public promenade, and a beautiful 
garden, with lakes and pavillions ; then to Albrecht Durer's 
House. This speaks indeed of the olden time. It is not in 
the least changed ; its brown stone walls are profusely orna- 
mented, like every thing here, to the Bronze medallion of 
Durer on the front. It is occupied by a society of artists. 
There is but one picture of the master left here, an aquarelle of 
a lion. There were, however, some good modern paintings ; 
the "two maidens at a church door, looking at a fresh dug 
grave" ; a "Bishop and two Priests," lighted from the back, 
and the large water color of "Durer receiving the Laurel 
Crown from the Emperor." Then to the Castle ; nothing 
can exceed the beauty, and rare, quaint look of this old Cas- 
tle,as you wind up its rocky steeps. The broad plains of Ba- 
varia spread about you in the highest culture, and on the oth- 
er side sleeps quaint, antique Nuremberg. This is still a tow- 
er of strength, though some of its towers are ruined. The 
interior is yet unchanged. The German Emperor, and Kings, 
down to the present King of Bavaria, from a very early date, 
have held Courts here. The rooms are full of quaint 
old pictures, mostly by Winckelmunde, on gold grounds. 
There are many curious wood carvings ; one upon a gold 
ground is a complete Scripture history ; Eve rising out of 
Adam's side, and fifty others exquisitely done, with marble 
reliefs. The Chapel is full of them. The pillars under these 
old arches are new ; the old ones are said to have been broken 

by the Devil in a fit of rage at the bad faith of the monk 
' 10 



146 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

whose face now grins in ghastly marble over the Nave, he hav- 
ing failed to keep his vow with the arch fiend ; here, as in the 
old Churches, stand the ancient altars and Shrines untouched. 
Returned to my Hotel, and found there a letter from mother. 
Au<r. 12, also one from Liverpool. After dinner, started off 
attended as before ; went first to see the Automaton Duck 
exhibiting here, and completed last year by a native of Ap- 
penzell. It is beautiful. A perfect animal stands on a 
square pedestal, used as bellows ; the machinery is in its 
body. It raises and turns its head and body, and wings 
working on delicate silver wheels, cries naturally, eats and 
drinks wonderfully enough. Then to the Cemetery, the Gottes 
acker. Here are Tombs from the year 1400. The Sexton 
said that over 150,000 were sleeping there. Here is the 
grave of Albrecht Durer, and of Hans Sachs. The mode of 
sepulture is very similar in all. They build heavy stone un- 
derground vaults, and over it place a large brown stone, altar 
shape, and on it, in a carved bronze plate, the Inscription and 
arms. Some of them were rich and curious, with touching 
sentiments. One new one was in Gothic, like the back of a 
choir stall ; and on it, in Bronze Relief, was an Angel bear- 
ing a child upward ; Motto, " hinuber" ; this stood upright 
in a liitle railed flower parterre ; another, was a Bronze relief 
of Immortality holding a spade ; it was an angelic face, 
beaming with hope. Looked into the quaint old Chapel there, 
filled with stone and wood carvings. On leaving this Fren- 
deshoff, the sun was setting superbly over the lovely landscape 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 147 

of Bavaria. On our way back looked into an Atelier. The 
artist was casting a collossal statue of Kaiser Karl IV., for 
Prague. It was very fine, but lacked the soul of Schwantha- 
ler. Again home, journalized and retired. 

Near the Rosenau is a superb residence of a Merchant here, 
just finished in the Turkish Style, and his Gardener's house 
is a Swiss Chaumiere ; an odd contrast, but the Dome, Mina- 
rets, and Frescos looked beautiful over the trees. 

Sep. 12th. — Sunday. — Yesterday the whole city was wash- 
ed up, and to-day, shops shut, and everybody in church ; morn- 
ing, by invite, partook of a dejeuner a la fourchette, with 
Mr. Arnold in his fine house. After dinner went out to the 
Douzenteigh, or twelve lakes ; where was all the town in 
their best dresses. Music, beer drinking, women, even ladies, 
all hatless, knitting and drinking beer, and nurses with babies 
fastened up like papooses ; a charlatan was to ride over the 
water upon a chariot ; he tried it, and remained in, up to his 
neck for some half an hour ; droll boats with paddle wheels 
worked by hand, were crossing the lakes, and the whole 
made a strange scene ; another beautiful sunset ; walked some- 
distance, and retired early. 

13th. — Went with young B. to the Lindauer Gallery, 
where are some very fine paintings : a sleeping nymph, a 
portrait of an old woman in a cap, and the woman offering 
the Sieve Test, for her innocence, upon the staircase, are 
all worthy of Rubens : then looked at that old Globe* 

* This is the same Globe about which so many volumes of learned 
speculations have been written ; a good history of which discussion, is to 



148 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

here, the earliest existing, made by Peter Pehaim, in four- 
teen hundred and ninety-two, whilst Columbus was at sea, 
and still owned by the family which I visited. It is about 
two feet in diameter, suspended in a brass circle, marked 
only to show the winds : America is not on it. Some 
whales, and old Spanish Caravals, are sailing there in- 
stead ; mermaids are also depicted in choice localities. 
The equinoctial and zodiac are marked, but no latitude or 
longitude. The shapes of countries are singular ; Spain is 
double the size of France ; a vast region protrudes out 
into the sea beyond the Indies, and is marked as the coun- 
try of Kaiser Prester John ; Canton, and Java, and the 
Antilles are there. The whole surface of land is studded 
with droll figures, to show the costumes of the people, and 
continual inscriptions in italics of names, and geographical 
marks, the dates of discovery, and of the imaginary cities. 
The Red Sea is a huge, literal red ocean, and Palestine is 
like Spain in size. It certainly is a rare thing ; but nothing 
could purchase it from the family, who still live in the old 
mahsion. Next went to the house of Mr. Holtzschuher, and 

be found in the notes to Irving's Columbus, where the name of the maker 
is incorrectly given as " Martin Behmen." I got the above true name, 
from the Globe itself, which Mr. Irving states, that like the others, he had 
no: himself seen, not having visited Nurembergh ; and the name on the 
original Globe was confirmed by the member of this family who showed it 
to me. "Within a few years past, the French Academy of Sciences, had 
obtained permission of the family, to make two fac-similes in papier- 
mache, of this Globe ; one of such fae-similes, is now, I am informed, in 
their collection at Paris; and the other, most beautifully done, stood next 
to its venerable prototype, in the Family Mansion. 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 149 

here they have lived since the Crusades. It is an immense 
and quaint affair like the rest ; but here is an original po- 
trait, by Albrecht Durer, of one of their ancestors. It 
hangs on its old easel, in a black frame, and is, indeed, a 
wonderful picture : it is like a Douw and Holbein combined ; 
near it was lying a massive gilt book of one thousand pages 
— the family record ; containing their names from their ori- 
gin, with beautiful blazonings of their arms ; curious, with 
their crest of a Moor's head. One of their ancestors serv- 
ing in the Moorish wars, under Ferdinand and Isabella, and 
their quarterings are as numerous as those of a Spanish Don. 
Received a letter from S. N. D., July 31. Called on Mr. 
Arnold, pp. c, and went out to the Rosenau. Here the 
military bands were playing finely, and a great crowd of the 
fashion were [there knitting, and drinking beer, 'as usual. 
In a fine field near by, the National Guard were drilling. I 
then returned to my hotel. 

14th. — At 11, A. M., got in cars for Bamberg, and ar- 
rived about half-past 2, P. M. ; raining. Dined, and went 
out to the beautiful Cathedral here, in front of the Palace, 
with a grand sculptured terrace rising above the town. The 
Church is extremely old — perhaps of the 12th century ; the 
interior has been repaired in the Munich Renaissance style, 
with a double choir; exquisite high altar with a bronze 
Christ, and figures of the saints ; a stone pulpit like that of 
St. Lawrence Church at Nurembergh, by Schwanthaler, and 
his pupils. The Lady Chapel, lined with bronze figures of 



150 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

the Bishops and Canons, one, as old as fourteen hundred and 
ninety-two, is remarkably fine, and, also, the beautiful altar- 
piece, of Christ taken down] from the cross, \ by Annibal 
Caracci ; and the Crypt, so high and well lighted, with the 
well between the sarcophagi of the Emperor Conrad, and of 
the Bishops, in altar-shape : it is a noble edifice. Then took 
the cars to Culmbach, and then the Eilwagen to Hof, riding 
all night. 

14th. — Arrived at Hof, a dull old town, about 6, A. M., 
and at 9, A. M., took Eilwagen again in Saxony to Ker- 
chenbach, raining most of the way, and arrived about 4, P. 
M. ; at 6, P. M., took rails again, to Leipsic : this road 
runs through delightful scenery ; it had cleared up, and 
there was a glorious sunset. Arrived at Leipsic, at 9, P. 
M., at Hotel Baviere, making a journey of thirty-four hours, 
including twelve of provoking delay — journalized and re- 
tired. 

16th. — This city is destitute of lions : it is only the 
book mart of Germany. Called on Mr. Brockhaus with 
introduction, and he received me very politely, and conduct- 
ed me over his colossal establishment. It surrounds a large 
square court, and employs four hundred persons ; every- 
thing is on an extensive scale. He makes his own type, and 
hand-matrix ; but there was no peculiar feature in it. The 
libraries, and the University were closed. Walked out 
through the beautiful Augustine Platz, passing the fine pri- 
vate residences in the Vorstadt, to the plain altar-shaped 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 151 



monument of Poniatowski, and near by, stood on that spot 
upon the Elster Bank, where he fell. Near by is the Observa- 
tory, Schloss, and Pfleissburgh; and passed a tolerable 
statue of King Augustus the Strong. Afternoon at home, 
cold and rainy. 

17th. — Starting at 6, A. M., in rails, booked to Berlin; 
by some mistake did not change cars at Kothen, and so went 
on to Madgebarg ; having about an hour after dejeuner four- 
chette, went into its Domkirche, which you enter through 
very ancient cloisters, but the interior is, of course, now a 
Lutheran Church, and has been sadly despoiled of its beauty, 
if it ever had any. There is a fine alabaster pulpit, some- 
what in the style of that at Nuremberg in St. Lorenz, or 
rather in the Bambergh Church, which is far older than this ; 
the alabaster Chancel, and a beautiful bronze tomb, by Viss- 
cher, of an Archbishop, and some tolerable alabaster monu- 
ments about. The town is finely fortified ; a bridge is now 
building over the Elbe, about three quarters of a mile long. 
1 had no time to go into the city, and at eleven and a half, 
A. M., was off again for Berlin, returning to Kothen, and 
arrived at Berlin, about 7, P. M. The cars are very com- 
modious and elegant, in the English style : the rails are of 
medium guage, and the rate is about twenty miles per hour, 
and fare about $3,00 : on your arrival, the railroad conductor 
takes your baggage-ticket, and it is then sent to your hotel ; 
porterage only 5 sil. gros. Went to the British hotel 
Unter den Linden. 



152 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

18th. — Called on Mr. Donelson, our Envoy, who lives in 
good style ; received me very kindly ; spent three quarters 
of an hour there, and accepted a dinner at 3, P.M. Mon- 
day, (twentieth), no letters : then called with Historical 
Society Diploma on Professor Leopold Von Ranke ; he has 
a fine etage, in Louisen Strasse, and received me in his li- 
brary, which is very extensive ; showing me many choice 
English works ; a copy of Bancrofts History of the United 
States which he thought too radical, and somewhat superfi- 
cial ; Prescott's Ferdinand and Isabella, which he admired ex- 
ceedingly ; spoke of Spark's Memoirs, of Dr. Robinson, and 
appeared very well acquainted with our history and litera- 
ture ; but, perhaps, through his Court place as Historiogra- 
pher, he is a strict monarchist, and expressed his deep sur- 
prise how our government had so long existed. He is a 
short spare man, crooked, and bent gait, with a quick eye 
and rapid short accent, speaking English very well. He 
waited on me to the beautiful museum, and having to go 
over to the palace to study the archives, left me, and I went 
into the Gallery of Antiquities. They are in a Roman Hall, 
of marble, but low ceiling, and ^inferior to the noble Glyp- 
tothek. Some modern statues interspersed, are almost 
worthy of their new society. There is something so ma- 
jestic in the composure of ancient art, whether it be an em- 
peror, or Jove in his chair, or Victory, or Apollo, or Ro- 
man Matron, or even a child's bust, or Cupid, or a nymph ; 
even their smile is placid and enduring, and the effect is in- 






DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 153 

creased by their superb draperies. Modern art in its finest 
form, lacks soul, and seems bald in comparison. This gal- 
lery is not as extensive, or so well arranged, or lighted as 
the Glyptothek at Munich. Thence up stairs into the gal- 
lery of paintings. Here are near one thousand, beautifully 
arranged in the dates and order of their schools : there are 
some here by most of the masters ; the numbers and sub- 
jects on little placards by each window; many gems here 
in his miniature-like style, by Van Veldt, are most exqui- 
site. Hero is Houthorst's Peter released from prison by 
the angel : how the heavenly light streams from the face 
and garments of the angel, and seems to radiate from the 
hand ; and the door-way is bright as the " Gates of Paradise 
wide open flung," and then the light on the dreaming and 
scarce conscious Peter, though but reflected, yet how exqui- 
sitely managed ! Then Guido's Fortuna rising above the 
rolling world ; Jupiter and Io ; Raphael's portraits ; the Ve- 
netian scenes, by Canaletti, and hundreds of others : and 
then in the rear of this building went to the Cabinet' of An- 
tiquities, and here I spent some hours. What a superb col- 
lection of vases called Etruscan, from Volsci, or Lucien Bo- 
naparte's estate ; they stand on mirrors so that you see 
the borders well, which depicts the divine Iliad ; the 
" gods immortal," are all there, life-like. Did not Flax- 
man draw his whole art from them 1 There was one singu- 
lar vase upon a red ground ; women in white dresses were 
taking a shower bath. Then through many rooms of Ro- 



154 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

man domestic utensils, lamps, candelabra, amphora, strigils, 
stilus, a surgical case, bronze statuettes, ornaments, and a 
vast collection of gems, seals, and coins, exquisitely ar- 
ranged ; some jewelry of the richest kinds, frescos, "window 
glass very thick, and glass bottles, and glass ware and 
vases, very beautiful prismatic fibulas, a fine Grecian shield, 
etc., etc. After dinner went to the royal porcelainc fabrik, 
whose articles are for sale. There were many beautiful 
vases, painted and gilt, with fine groups of flowers and re- 
liefs, and transparencies for shades ; but, on the whole, in 
no way remarkable : then to the royal iron foundry ; the 
iron is imported, but some comes from Silesia : the ware- 
house was full of the most elaborate carved works, exquisite 
statuettes, superb bas reliefs of the Last Supper, many 
bronze busts, one of the present Russian Empress, gilt, a 
large vase, with a border in silver inlaid, depicting in silver, 
Schwanthaler's Triumph of Alexander, a large and exqui- 
site group of flowers, etc., etc. Went through the factories 
driven by large steam engines. Evening to the opera : 
Lucia, quite well sung, but of course one cannot praise 
mediocrity after the London artists : performance begins at 
half-past six, P.M. ; through at half-past nine, P.M. ; no 
ballet ; and the best seats costs twenty sil-gros ; the house is 
large and tasteful. 

The building of the museum is grand, a vast Athenian 
temple, with fine frescos in front, and bronze statuary, 
standing in front of a large green square, with many foun- 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 155 

tains among the palaces, the university, etc. : nothing I 
have seen surpasses its position, nor its beauty as I viewed 
it by moonlight. 

19th. — Went off at 8, A.M., by rails to Potsdam, and 
passed the day in the palaces. The Charlottenhof, the 
beautiful Pompeian house, the old Schloss, the Sans Souci 
and the Marble Palace. The interior of these palaces is 
usually a great store house of faded finery, and bad pic- 
tures, with many other relics of the great Frederick. The 
gardens of the Sans Souci and its fine fountains form an ex- 
quisite Italian landscape ; and there are some pretty statues 
in the Marble Palace, with fine views. Was in the garrison 
church during service, but could not see the Tomb. Came 
home in the evening to the New Opera House, the most 
magnificent theatre I have ever seen ; sat in the Tribune ; a 
charming ballet, of the Serenaders. 

20th. — Went through the Schloss or king's residence ; 
here are suits of the most gorgeous rooms, great buffets of 
plate, and many choice paintings. David's Napoleon at St. 
Bernard, etc. ; a lovely group ; Hero and Leander, etc., 
etc., and all the other usual things found in palaces : then 
spent an hour in the museum again, and left with this 
doubt — is that Raphael's adoration authentic ? Dined with 
Mr. Donelson, and passed the evening at his levee. 

21st. — Unwell, and made some calls in the morning ; af- 
ternoon at home writing. Evening went to the New Opera 
House, and heard Tucezh in " So Machen es Alle." She is 



156 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

a sweet Soprano, and well supported : it was charming to 
hear Mozart's music pure again in such a glorious theatre. 

22nd. — At half-past seven, P.M., got into cars again to 
Leipsic ; fine day ; scenery as usual, dull till Wittemberg, 
where it improves a little, and grows richly cultivated in 
Anhalt; got there about 3, P.M., and at 9, P.M., arrived 
at Hotel de Berlin, Dresden. 

23d. — Spent the morning in the Plaster Cast Gallery, 
and among the paintings, which are incomparable. After- 
noon delightedly in the Cabinet of Curiosities. Such superb 
and curious armor was never before assembled. Evening 
went to the beautiful Opera House, and heard Euryanthe, 
by Weber : difficult music, and more beautiful in the instru- 
mentation; it was superbly given by the prima donna, 
Mademoiselle Wagner, who looks, acts, and sings like 
Lind ; fine terraces, and an enclosed promenade in the cor- 
ridors, with buffets well arranged, and most princely stage 
appointments. 

24th.— At 9, A.M., with Mr. W. of Pa., from Vienna ; 
went to Meissen by rails ; a fine ride and day ; the town is 
very beautifully situated ; its red tiled roofs look English- 
like, and they are commanded by the old castle, now the 
porcelain factory ; went to the Fabrique ; the clay is found 
about twenty miles off; mixed only with water, and knead- 
ed ; the figures are given by plaster casts and incision, and 
twice burnt, then painted, gilt and baked, and the gold 
polished with a burnisher ; the flowers in relief are made by 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 157 

hand, and cemented ; the small figure groups are each in 
detached pieces. The transparencies are first cut in wax- 
relief, then a plaster cast is made therefrom, then the 
kneaded clay is pressed on, and baked. The colors used 
are metallic chiefly ; Cobalt is preferred to Ultramarine. 
Their cement and enamels are secrets. There are here, in 
all, about four hundred workmen : went slowly and delight- 
edly through. All objects of art and beauty were here; 
among others several lace veils of exquisite fineness. A 
fine Lichtbild of General Taylor had been made for an 
American order for one thousand copies ; busts, bouquets, 
etc. Went into the Dominican church here, but aside from 
its simple style, it is not interesting. Dined at the Hirsch. 
Drove through the Weinbergs, or vine-yards, to the Nie- 
derau station, thence home by rails, and in the evening heard 
a good Tyrolean concert ; one of the singers was in the 
United States with the Rainers', and sang for me several of 
our best songs ; a remarkable bass voice. 

25th. — This morning after breakfasting at the Terrasse 
Bruhe, the pictures not being open, went to the Japanese 
Palace over the bridge, to the Cabinet of Antiques. It is in- 
ferior to those of Munich or Berlin, but extensive, and well 
arranged in Pompeii-like rooms : very few are at all perfect, 
so that you have no true idea of the originals ; but the two 
on my memory are an Amazon, in' fourth room, meditating, 
lightly resting on her war-axe ; and a little child on a shield 
upon the right hand in the next room. Then across the cor 



158 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

ridor to the Porcelain Gallery. Here through many rooms 
of countless treasuries, you pass from the first broken brown 
plate of Bottchner's discovery, to the pottery of all nations 
of our day. The Saxon and Sevres are beautiful ; the ex- 
quisite bust of the Queen with a lace mantilla thrown over 
the head and shoulders, and a hundred others. After dinner 
went to the Green Vaults. I was disappointed in their ex- 
tent, and the number of bjects ; but they are of course a 
dazzling display of mere useless barbaric magnificence. Af- 
terwards heard the Eunuchs with the Opera Orchestra sing 
in the court church; a short mass. The exterior of this 
church is the finest object in Dresden ; but there is nothing 
especial within ; its nave is a fine vault. This morning 
went in the Jews' Synagogue, of Byzantine style, and very 
large. 

26th. — Sunday — Breakfasted at the Terrasse Bruhe ; 
rainy : went to the court church, and heard the fine music at 
the High Mass. After dinner heard a good sermon at the 
English church. Evening at the opera again, and heard 
Iphigenia in Aulis. It was of course admirably presented ; 
but the music, although so classic as to be Grecian, is too 
heavy. It is not so much an opera, as Euripides recited in 
German song-measure. Took, as before, a sparr-sitz in 
circle (twenty gros.) It is wonderful that at such a price 
one can hear the best of music, in a palace. Wrote a letter 
toS. 

27th.— Morning in the gallery, looking on Murillo's 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 159 

Vh»in, Veronese's Crucifixion, the Madonna Sau Sisto, 
and Delia Notte, the Last Supper, by Vander, Werff, etc. 
In the afternoon drove around the beautiful suburbs to the 
Moreau Monument, Weber's grave, etc. Could not get 
in to the Gallery of Engravings the Director being out of 
town. 

28th. — Raining dismally till 8, P.M. ; but started at 6, 
A.M., in the little steamer Germania; booked for Prague 
with an English Captain; the boat was about the size of 
those on the Thames, of nineteen inches draught. Voyaged 
all day till 10, P.M., when arrived at Obristwys. We 
sailed through the Saxon Switzerland, passing the Bastei, 
and for many miles below Dresden, the banks are like those 
of the Hudson Highland palisades, but terraced with vines, 
like the Rhine banks ; and the river, constantly winding, 
studded with thriving villages, red-roofed, and English-like ; 
presently we pass Konigstein, a huge Gibraltar, some seven 
hundred feet high, pierced with Cannon, a fortress of nature 
and art, far grander in its aspect than Ehrenbreitstein : just 
below is Lelienstein, a huge mountain pinnacle, rising still 
higher, and everywhere, by the continual turns of the river, 
there is a variety of landscape, Rhine-like, but, to my eye, 
much grander. The difference is only that the Elbe is nar- 
rower. Slept at Obristruys, the last landing place, and the 
Bohemian frontier. 

29th. — Took a carriage at 9, A.M. : drove "over a rich 
country till 12, A.M., whenjhe fine towers of Prague came 



1G0 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

in view ; drove to the Schwarzen Ross. The young princes,* 
nephews of the Emperor of Austria, were lodging here ; 
their guard was at the gate. Saw them drive out in three 
rich carriages. After dinner took a circuitous stroll through 
the city, crossing the bridge of St. John, and returning 
through the Kleine Scite, passing the superb wire-bridge. 
Went into the old Jews' Synagogue here. The chief Rabbi 
was praying there ; and what a Rembrandt picture it was, with 
the little narrow windows above, and the black stone roof 
and altar ; it is said to be sixteen hundred years old, and is 
now some twelve feet on the ground floor below the street 
level ; then into their cemetery ; here are stones of the 
twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and of some Jewish prin- 
ces ; they all have the insignia of their tribes ; a cruise for 
the Tribe of Levi ; two clasped hands for the Tribe of 
Aaron ; grape bunch for Israel, etc. ; near by is their Rath- 
haus, all in the Judea Stadt: here live ten thousand of 
them, as they must pay large sums to live in the city. In 
my walk I could not fail to admire the grandeur of the 
bridges, and the beauty, width, and elegance of the streets 
of the new town, and the quaint old towers which are so nu- 
merous. Returned through the Clementinum. 

30th. — Started off in the rain, as usual, sight-seeing ; and 
first went to the Nicolai church, a splendid specimen, in 
marble and frescos, of the taste of the Jesuits ; admired 

• The eldest of these princes has now succeeded to the empire by the 
abdication of his imbecile uncle. 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 161 

there the splendid gold, silver, and precious stone vessels, 
chalices, etc., ; then to the Loretto chapel ; its exterior is of 
bas reliefs of the magic flight of the original black Lady ; 
within the broken frescos is Joseph's plank, and is no doubt 
a faithful copy ; then to the cathedral, blazing with gold, 
silver, and precious stones, particularly the chapel of St. 
Wenzel, and the silver tomb of St. John Nepomuck, the pa- 
tron saint of the city. The finest things are the statue of St. 
Voigt, and the portrait of Christ, of the era of thirteen hun- 
dred, brought from Rome by the Emperor Charles IV. : a di- 
vine face, and unequalled painting : then through the Imperial 
Palace, of enormous size, and very little in it ; some pictures 
said to be by Bassano ; and the Diet Hall ; where it meets 
before the Imperial Commission every May. The emperor 
has not been here since his coronation therein : then to the 
palace of Wallenstein ; the family are still existing here 
with enormous wealth, like all the rest of their princes. 
Here yet is his curious lava-covered bath room, and the 
winding stair-case leading to the tower, where he consulted 
the stars. The tower is gone. The curious lava-formed 
Aviary, and side of the garden, which is very prettily laid 
out ; his Lutzen Horse ; the Hall of the Generals, and the un- 
altered chapel, still used by the family. Enjoyed the fine 
view of this oriental-looking city from the Martinitz's win- 
dow. After dinner at half-past 4, P.M., got in cars for 
Vienna. The three princes, nephews of the emperor, who 
lodged at our house, and were serenaded by a Liederkranz 



1C2 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE 

of fifty singers by torchlight, amidst many thousands of 
spectators last night, were in a gorgeous state carriage, 
just before me, and at almost every station were received 
with music, cannon, banners, crowds, fireworks, triumphal 
arches, etc. Rode all night in huge cars of American 
fashion, moving slowly ; cold, rainy, and disagreeable ; every 
body smoking, doors opening, noisy, etc. 

Oct. 1st. — Arrived about 2 P. M., at the Gulden Lamm 
Hotel. Called on Mr. Stiles, our Charge ; was well re- 
ceived, and obtained letters from B., S. N. D., D. and D. 

2d. — Started about on errands in a rainy morning, and 
looked at several fine Churches on the way. Mr. P. and 
C, of Boston, called on me, and we dined well together at 
the Casino ; then to the Graben, to Cafe Dehm ; then called 
on Mr. Stiles, and drove over to the Sperl Garten, and 
heard Strauss play ; there are thirty in his band, including 
twelve violins. He is short, with black hair and eyes, and 
dark and very expressive face ; leading with a violin, and 
his band moves like one instrument. They enchanted me 
with his new polkas, and Fantasia on the Carnival of Venice, 
swallow waltz, &c. Came home about ten ; Dr. Leo W. 
had called. 

3d. — Sunday. — Went to the Court Chapel, in the Palace ; 
fine music ; the Emperor was there ; he looks imbecile. In 
the afternoon received letter from B., and letter from Mr. 
M. F. Tupper, and both were answered to-day ; Leo W. called 
and drove me out with his wife to Schonbrunn, where we 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 1G3 

heard young Strauss and his band play charmingly, in a 
much finer room than that at the Sperl. Evening, passed 
atf the Kartner Thorj Theatre ; poor opera in every way. 

4th. — Went in the morning to the Zeughaus, the largest 
and finest collection of arms in Europe ; then to the Cabinet 
of Antiquities : it is quite rich, though little to Munich or 
Berlin ; then through the Palace ; its rooms are not remark- 
ably rich, and the only thing worth looking at, is the Arbeit 
Zimmer of the Emperor Joseph, just as he left it, and near 
by is a picture of the Emperor. Evening, saw a Fest Ball 
at the Sperl ; cooks, etc., were waltzing very badly to the 
delightful music of the elder Strauss and his band. 

5th. — Morning at the Ambras collection, in the Belvi- 
dere ; very interesting, if the armors are all genuine. The 
Farnese is splendid, and there are fine ivory carvings, and 
some curious astronomical clocks. The picture gallery was 
closed for the month. Afternoon, went with Mrs. L. to the 
Affen Theatre, to witness a drama performed by Monkeys at 
the Interims Theatre Odeon in the evening, both interesting 
only, as evincing how little serves to amuse the proverbially 
volatile Viennese. 

6th. — Morning spent in the Esterhazy gallery, admiring 
many Dutch paintings, and some Rubens, etc. Dined at the 
Archduke Charles, and, in the evening, heard the opera 
Liebetrank. The best of the opera singers are now out of 
town, and this performance was but indifferent. 

7th. — Morning, went first to the Cabinet of Natural His- 



164 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

tory. It is finely arranged ; herds of deer, antelopes, etc., 
and a beautiful collection of birds, etc., fill many rooms, 
certainly the finest in Europe. Then to the library — a no- 
ble marble room, said to^contain two hundred and seventy 
thousand volumes, and sixteen thousand MSS. Saw Tasso's 
original MSS. of the GicrusaUmme Liberata ; the famous 
Roman Tabula; the Cortez Mexican MSS., and could not 
see the other Manuscripts without an order. Then to the 
Lichtenstcin gallery, a very superb collection ; the finest 
thing hcre ; and, to my taste, far finer than the San Sisto, is 
Ruben's Assumption of the Virgin. Her expression of calm 
triumph — the angels, the foremost apostle, and every figure, 
is almost divine, and also the Corregio of Venus and Cupid, 
etc. Walked around the pretty gardens of the noble palace. 
Dined at the Archduke Carl, as before, and returned to my 
hotel. 

8th. — Rained dismally all day, and I resorted to letter 
writing ; spent the evening charmingly with. Mr. Stiles. 
. 9th. — Spent the morning in the Josephinum, an extraor- 
dinary collection, scientifically arranged, with nothing to 
offend ; wax preparation is in perfection here ; nothing could 
surpass the beauty and fidelity, with which it exhibits the 
parts, by sections and entire of the whole human frame. 

10th. — Took the rails at half-past 11, A. M., to Laxen- 
burgh. There is a beautiful view of the city as you pass 
by it, from the elegant station behind the Belvidere ; after 
a ride of about an hour, dined with two Polish gentlemen, 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 165 

who were my day-friends ; then went to a deserted Summer- 
Palace, filled with Hapsburgh portraits. One noble hall is 
lined with statues of Emperors, from Rudolph down ; then 
through the lovely Park, which is of vast size, with constant- 
ly changing landscapes, in the English or natural style, 
across the foot bridge to the little model castle ; you first 
enter a hall hung with some rare armor ; then, numerous 
rooms with furniture of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, 
richly carved oak ceilings, and sides of gilt leather, fine, 
and old, with some good paintings ; one room is hung with 
full lengths of the Emperor, and lighted by rich 'stained 
glass. Above, is the chamber of torture, containing the 
marble Inquisition table, with the border inscription, (Dis- 
cite non temere divos ;) in the centre cavity of bronze is U 
where they say the prisoner's head protruded ; here are their \ 
old chairs in ancient black upholstery, and below is the ou- 
bliette ; there is a fine view from the beautiful round tower ; 
thenpassed the pretty knight's monument, with its lions, to 
the tournament lists. Here is a modern revival of the an- 
cient lists, of rectangular form. In front, is the Emperor's 
seat, on either side those of the ladies, like opera boxes •, 
four gates, two at each end of the lists, with knight figures 
guarding ; on either side are the Judges' seats, or tribune, 
and the whole is about three hundred feet long, enclosed by 
a high stone wall. At the time of the Congress of Vienna, 
here were grand jousts. Could anything be more interest- 
ing 1 Do we not hear the trumpet announce the champion, 



16G DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

and see the melee, and the Emperor in his glory, and beau- 
ty stooping to award the wreath of victory? Is it not all 
again alive 1 And, as I walked some three hours, through 
the green alleys, over the sweet bridges, and around the 
fine lakes, I could not but re-people this scene with all the 
glory of ancient and of modern Europe, at the occasion of 
that last gathering of kings — the Congress of Vienna. It 
was a lovely day. We came home about 9, P. M. 

11th. — Morning at the Belvidere gallery. The finest 
things here seem to be the Veronese, the Dolcis, the Rubens 
room, and the Denner's Old Man's Head, with the Dnrers 
in the ancient school ; spent three hours there. Then to 
the Palace to see the royal carriages ; the most splendid are 
the mourning carved coach, and the coronation coach, painted 
after the Rubens school, and the sleighs of Maria Theresa, 
used at the time of the Congress here. Afternoon at the 
Hof Capelle. Archduke Frederick, son of the great Carl, 
died four days since at Venice, where he was Grand Ad- 
miral, and but twenty-six years old. In front of the altar, 
was a superb catafalque, surrounded with candles, and sur- 
mounted with his two crowns, chapeau and sword. The 
Emperor, and Empress mother, and the Princes, were in 
their boxes ; the music was chanting by a choir of Priests, 
and responses by the organ-choir. The superb Hungarian 
and Italian Guards, in full blazonry, with many Generals, 
etc., were there. It was a grand sight* The chanting 
lasted over two hours. 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 167 

Oct. 12th. — Morning was at the Palace ; the whole three 
Guards formed lines in the Vestibules of the Chapel, and the 
Emperor, Empress, Maria Louisa, and many princes, came 
from the Mass, in grand costumes and uniforms ; it was an 
imposing sight. Afternoon at the Volks Garten. Mr. W. 
Furniss, of N. Y., called on me. 

13th. — Morning, called on Mr. Stiles. Afternoon, with 
F., spent in the lovely walks, fine Menagerie, and Botanic 
Garden of Schonbrunn. Though beautiful, it did not please 
me as much as Laxenburgh. 

14th. — The most of the day occupied in preparations for 
departure. Looked at the pictures in the Lichtenstein Gal- 
lery again, with F. 

15th. — Morning, received my credit from Arnstein and 
Eskeles, on Constantinople, Alexandria, Naples and Rome. 
Mailed Letters. At 2 P. M:, in fine weather, took boat upon 
the Danube, at the Konigsmuhle, on the Prater, with F., for 
Presburgh. The scenery was flat at first; we passed Wag- 
ram ; the river filled with water-mills and winding ; passed 
the fine ruin of the Nunn's Tower, projecting into the river, 
and arrived at 5 P. M., at the Grunen Baum Presburgh ; 
walked over to the Garden opposite, and heard fine music from 
a military band, and enjoyed a splendid sunset view from the 
bridge ; how much like Donauworth is this town ; the river in 
its turns seemed retreating into the sunset pearl. 

16th. — At 6 A. M., we were off again for Pest; the wea- 
ther was cold but clear ; for the whole morning the scenery 



]68 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

was flat until the river began to turn southward, and then there 
rose mountains, bleak and single, with many ruins on their sum- 
mits. We passed Vissegrad and the fine church at Gran, and 
arrived about 4 1-2 P.M., at the Hotel Konigin von England . * 
Walked up to the hill, behind Buda or Ofen, among the hamlets 
of the serfs of Archduke Stephen. The view hence is grand ; 
Pest spreads out below upon a plain, regularly built, with 
large, fine, white houses, and Buda straggles up a hill like the 
Hradschin. It is indeed much like Prague. A large num- 
ber of carriages of Nobles with their Chasseurs and Hei- 
ducks passed us coming from their Diet of Hungary ; and after 
enjoying some fine views by moonlight, returned to our de- 
lightful hotel. 



*Extract from N. Y. Tribune, Oct., 1849, showing the condition of thia 

beautiiul City, after the late Hungarian War. 

THE CAPITAL AFTER THE WAR. 

The correspondent of the London Times, writes from Post as follows: — 

"Pest itself, is situated on the left bank of the Danube, on perfectly level 
ground with a noble line of newly constructed houses, forming a rnaguifi- 
cieut quay. Across the Danube is Ofeii alias, Buda, rising above the 
water, by a bold and steep acclivity, to an elevated table land, on wihch 
is built the Royal Palace, and other public offices of the Kingdom of Hun- 
gary. 

The course of the Danube is here rapid, — and its depth partakes'of the 
nature of its banks. A few feet from the Pest shore, there is only two feet 
of water, in the middle five, and on the Ofen side, a depth of eight fathoms. 
The connexion between the two cities, has been hitherto kept up by a 
bridge of boats, the lease of which producos to the town the sum of £8,000 
per annum ; the lessee being bound to keep it floating, up to the 6th of De- 
cember, which shows very nearly how long the river is free from ice. In 
order to maintain a constant communication all the year round, Uie chain 
bridge was built, after the designs, and under the superintendence of Mr. 
Clarke ; — a noble triumph of British taste, and science ; and when I think of 




DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 1G9 

17th. Started on Steamer Frederic for Orsova, the weath- 
er fine ; and scenery very flat and of little interest : about 6 
P. M., and after dark, stopped for coals at Mohacs, a squalid 
village, with crowds of the barbarous Magyars upon the wharf. 
Stopped steam about 11 P. M., and slept on board canal-boat 
wise. 

the two extremities of the capital, Ofen, with its vine-clad hills, and German 
population, and Pest, with its long Hatvanet, and the wild Magyar peas- 
ant, with swarthy complexion, fiery eyes and nomade-like sheepskin dress, 
from the Pustza, with his horses reeking with sweat, the genius of Britan- 
nia seems even here, in its congenial element, connecting the ocean-like 
plains of Asia with the civilization of Europe. 

The devastation produced by the seige and the bombardment is tre- 
mendous. From the windows of the Jagerhorn Hotel, in which I live, I 
see the roofless shells of two of the largest houses in Pest, the Hotel of the 
Queen of England, and the Redouten Saal, in which Kossuth held his 
Convention ; while across the Danube, the huge Royal Palace, that crown- 
ed the steeps of Ofen, and in which the Palatine used to hold his court, is 
amass of ruins. Crossing the bridge, and going round to the buck of the 
fortress, we find a level piece of ground called "the General Wiese ;" 
where Major General Hentzi, who defended Ofen, for the Imperialists, 
pastured the cattle of the garrison, under the guns of the fortress. Ofeu 
ofTered no point of attack from Pest, which is low and level, as well as 
separated from it by the Danube ; but on the other side of the General 
Wiese is the so-called Hill of the Suabians, and here Gorgey had his breach- 
ing Batteries ; while southward close to the Danube, is the lofty Blocks- 
berg, to which Mortars were elevated by the Magyars; so that Ofen, al- 
though it commanded Pest, was itself commanded by the Blocksberg. 

All along the western side of Ofen, over looking the General Wiese 
the bastions and parapets are a mass of ruins, and, as the eminence on 
which they are built, is considerably higher than the terrace side of Wind- 
sor Castle, and were taken by storming ladders, you may easily imagine 
that the loss of life was very great. A part of the artillery now covers the 
General-Wiese, and as I walkad over it with my polite cicerone, he koked 
up to the steep parapets and bastions, now a line of banks of rubbish, like 
the mounds outside an oriental town, and said to me, " How many a 
stout fellow iay dead and bleeding here five months ago !" Of the Wiener 



170 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

18th. Morning very fine ; our general rate down is fifteen 
miles an hour : scenery continued flat till dinner time, when 
we passed the fine Tower of Pctcrwardein, and Eyloch, and 
at night arrived at Seinlin ; walked about on shore ; a squalid 
town. Although we had a very fine moon, Belgrade was too 
far off in the haze to be visible. Steamed nearly all night. 

19th. Beautiful morning : many Servians and Albanians, 
in full and fine costume came aboard : passed the fine Roman 
Towers of Karman. Towards afternoon the scenery grew 
grand. The river, winding amongst noble wooded hills, and 
forming many beautiful lakes, like the Vevay landscape ; and 
along the bank is a splendid new road, till we reached Orso- 
la, at dusk, in fine moonlight, where we slept. 

20th. Tnthe same charming weather, took small boat to pass 
the Iron Gates ; a Harrow abrupt pass or whirlpool, about twelve 
miles down, where changed to a larger boat for Galatz. Kept 
on through delightful and ever-changing scenery, passing the 
Iron Gates, which, full of whirlpools, are not so grand as the 
Kazan pass. Yesterday, during the evening, the Prince Met- 
ternich passed us, and we saluted : and under a full moon- 
light the minarets and bastions of Widdin rose to view. 

Thor, or Vienna Gate, not a trace is visible, except large blocks of still 
compactly adhering masonary scattered on the ground. I need not pro- 
long the black catalogue of ruins. A narrow lane close to a public square, 
is shown where the brave Hentzi, received a shot in the breast, from 
which he died the same night. This lane leads out on the western terrace, 
where an ally of lime? still smiles in undisturbed verdure over the desolate 
scene, and through the branches ofwhcib one sees the Hill of the Suabians 
— a villa in the midst of a garden.'' 



DIARA OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 171 



21st. Scenery to-day was rather tame ; continual coast guard 
houses ; then the minarets, forts and hills of Old Nicopolis ; 
superb weather yet — sailed nearly till evening, when we stop- 
ped five hours at Giurgcva : the Turkish village of Ruzuck is 
opposite on a fine point and looked beautiful. F. sketched it 
as usual. Giurgcva is a squalid town of Wallachia, without 
interest : fine moonlight yet. 

22d. Same glorious weather : sailing near the Turkish 
coast ; very rich and beautiful, now and then seeing peasants in 
their gay costume, and some elegant-looking towns. Their 
appearance is charming ; with tbeir mosques, white minarets 
and feluccas in the harbor. Stopped at Braila, and about 9 
P. M.j arrived at Galatz. Slept on board. 

23d. — Walked about this squalid town, containing but one 
miserable Hotel ; afternoon went on board the Kollowradt 
Steamer for Constantinople. The company on board were 
an odd jumble, without much to please, and the sail down 
the river is prolonged some two days by delays. The boats 
are changed four times ; they are of the first class and of iron. 
Slept on board in fine state room and superb boat. Started 
at 4 A. M. 

24th. — A portion of our Turks, who travel under a tent on 
deck, sitting cross-legged, with pipe, and turban, some really 
good looking fellows, were landed at Tulchna, where was a 
large amount of shipping ; the fog cleared up finely at noon ; 
and brought to view on one side of this, the middle and nar- 
row arm of the Danube, Russian houses, and Guard posts, 



172 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EURPOE. 

ami on the other side, the prairie of tliis Delta. About 4 P. 
M., arrived at Soulinha, a small Greek looking town, with a 
lazaretto at the mouth on the Black Sea : several wrecks 
were lying there. Here is a dangerous bar, and often shallow ; 
luckily there were thirteen feet of water upon it, and we boun- 
ded off into the grievous Euxine. In our fine weather, there 
was no more motionjthan upon one of our Lakes; but many of the 
passengers were sick. Steamed all night, weather continuing 
fine. Near Tulchna, the Lieutenant General Jokmus, Pacha 
of Three Provinces, came on board, and continued in our 
company, staying at the same house at Pera. He is a native 
of Hamburgh, of great intelligence, speaking several languages, 
and achieved his great position here by his military skill in 
the Wars of Syria. He is a soldier of fortune and entered 
the Sultan's service to re-organize the army on the European 
system, and has been elevated to the highest official rank short 
of the Cabinet. He was returning from a tour in the Balkan ; 
and had been recently on a visit to the ruins of Nineveh, in 
company with Mr. Layard, whose researches he had greatly 
assisted. His conversation was exceedingly interesting ; and 
I shall never forget his commanding military appearance, 
gleaming eye and many personal attentions. 

25th. — About breakfast time, the bold Headlands and 
rocky cliffs of the Gulf of Varna rose in sight. On a bold 
promontory was a ruin of a Byzantine Church, indistinct, and 
not well preserved. About 11 A. M., reached Varna ; the 
Turkish boats came alongside, and I went on shore. A pic- 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 173 

turcscpie group of Turks was on the Quay. Some Divans 
and Buffalos in the street. New Turkish houses were going 
up ; grand looking fellows paraded the street, which was 
lined with Bazaar-like shops, with their cross-legged 
merchants ; it was odd to see the scribes write on their knees. 
The town is beautifully situated on several hills, with many 
Minarets ; and the houses are clean and handsome. The 
Pacha's Palace at the lower extremity, is a grand structure j 
but the streets are unpaved and dirty ; bought some delicious 
grapes, the merchant selling them by weight ; and after half 
an hour's visit, returned on board and steamed all night. 

26th. — Was on deck early watching for the Bosphorus 
and about 9 A. M., passed the Fortresses, and the Sym- 
plegades, the entrance, and then for twenty miles, a two 
hours' sail, passed between coasts lined with beautiful vil- 
lages, Summer houses of the rich and foreigners, and ambas- 
sadors, Castles, Forts, and Kiosks, the magnificent new Pal- 
aces of the Sultan, in an uninterrupted succession, until about 
11 A. M., Seraglio Point, the domes and minarets of St. Sophia, 
and the great towering mass of Stamboul rose in sight. We 
anchored near Lcander's Tower, and rowed over to Tophana 
in a Caique, and then to Mad. Guiseppini's Pension, on the 
Petit Champ des Morts at Pera. Afternoon wrote letters, 
and called on Mr. Porter, the Consul and Secretary of Lega- 
tion, U. S. Evening rainy ; at home. 

27th. — Letters mailed to-day. After dejeuner, spent 
some three hours in the Bazaars ; entered first the Drug Ba- 



174 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EL'ROPE. 



zaar; which is large, well built, and handsome ; then at some 
distance is the other, the Great Bazaar. The goods arc all 
exposed before the cross-legged merchants, the alleys are inter- 
minable, and contain apparently all kinds of goods. It was a 
rare sight. The veiled Turkish women were shopping ; ma- 
ny of the Sultanas drove through in their gilt carriages, with 
Nubian attendants at their sides. It is semi-barbarous, per- 
haps, but purely Oriental ; Armenians seemed to prevail in 
some, and Turks in other streets. Then took a fine Caique 
and rowed over to Seraglio Point ; had no Firman yet, and 
was not admitted, and so back to Tophana, a most lovely sail ; 
mounted an Arabian and rode home; called again on Mr. Porter. 
Dr. Smith, of Charleston, just appointed State_ Geologist here 
called on me in the evening. 

28th. — On my way down to Galata, to see Mr. Glavanicz, 
met a procession of school children, young, and gaily dressed, 
with their Turkish masters, singing together not unpleasantly, 
escorting two boys who for the first time entered school. 
These were richly dressed, and on horseback. I followed 
them to the door ; on arriving they drew up in a line, a party 
of women and Nubians came out to receive them and respond- 
ed to the chant ; they then were led in first to be baptised, 
&c. Took a Caique at Issim Bacha, for a row on the Gold- 
en Horn. Going up you pass on the right the Dock-Yards 
of the Sultan, which are very extensive ; a large Iron War 
Steamer was upon the Stocks, with some other vessels, and a 
great many hulks. Opposite was lying an exquisite Screw 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 175 

Iron Steamer just bought in England ; then passed the Palace 
of the Capudan Pacha, the new Marine College beautifully situ- 
ated, then Casernes, Cannon and Bomb Foundries, and opposite 
is the great Fez factory. The view of the City and suburbs is 
delightful ; the river winding frequently ; at last came to the 
Summer Palace, and soon after to the Women's Palace, all in 
the beautiful valley of the Sweet Waters of Europe. The fine 
hills here retreat into a basin form; the rich plain is the garden or 
promenade. The position is lovely. The Palaces are not very 
handsome. The Sultan only lives here in May, for a short time; 
hut near the Women's Palace is an exquisite Marble Pavillion, 
circular, with gilt ceilings. In front are many marble cas- 
cades and fountains, the water coming in sheets, terrace 
like, broad and beautiful, from some distance. Some of the 
awkward troops were being drilled in front of the Palace, on 
a fine green. Going down, as the river widens, and you get 
out of the basin of Hills, the City rises upon the eye like en- 
chantment. It stands as it were, a great forest of gar- 
dens. Palaces, Mosques, and Minarets springing out of this 
beautiful sea ; an Aladdin Creation. Nothing can approach 
its glorious aspect. Of course you see the straggling Frank 
Towns, and are surrounded with multitudes of Caiques ; at 
sunset enjoyed a beautiful view from the Cemetery near our 
house, The Mosques, Minarets and Towers of Stamboul 
were painted out on a ground of rich gold ; and we heard the 
Muezzin calling to prayer, making his tour of the little gallery 
upon a neighboring Minaret. In the evening took tea with 



176 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

Dr. Smith ; some half dozen were there ; smoked Persian 
Narguille and Turkish pipes. Mr. Churchill, a young Turk, 
educated at the London University, and Editor of the Turk- 
ish Government Paper, was there ; in the course of conver- 
sation it was remarked that the present revenue of the Em- 
pire is seventeen millions sterling, and expense fifteen ; and 
that bribery is still common ; the Pachas plunder the revenue 
as usual, otherwise the Government would receive far more ; 
Salaries, though large, of the employees, are slow, and irreg- 
ular ; the Sultan is now but twenty-four years of age, 
just learning French. .£250,000 sterling" have been appro- 
priated for a road to Adrianople.* 

* On Nov. 10th. 1847, one of my fellow passengers on board the 
French Mail Steamer Mentor, from Constantinople to Malta, was the 
General Cordova, who, after having resided as the Ambassador of Spain 
for fourteen years, at the Sublime Porte, had the previous day taken his 
audience of leave to return to a seat in the Privy Council of Spain. In the 
course of conversation he stated to me that the salaries of the Turkish 
Government were then as follows : 

The Sultan's Civil List, was - - 4,000,000 piastres per month. 

The Grand Vizier's - - - 90,000 

The Seraskier Pacha's - - - 85,000 " 

The Lieutenant General (Pacha Jokumas) 55,000 " " 

Ambassador at London and Paris, each 35,000 " " 

" " Vienna. 25,000 " " 

The pay of the common Soldier is 30 paras per day — twenty-five Pias- 
tres being about equal to $1,00. 

I may here also be excused for adding that another of my fellow passen- 
gers on board of the Mentor, whom also I had the pleasure to accompany 
to the United States, was Mr. Jean de Nottbeck, who held the official post 
of Chef du Bureau Economique in the Ministry of Demesnes at St. Pe- 
tersburgh, under the Imperial Government. This gentleman had recenlly 
arrived at Constantinople on his return from an official tour, and there re- 



14A 



irr^ 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROBE. 177 



29th. — Beautiful day ; took Caique and went up the Bos- 
phorus to Killeled, to await the Sultan's coming to Mosque. 
There was a large Barracks there ; and two rows of Troops 
were drawn up, on the shore ; soon the guns fired the signal 
for embarkation, and presently six of the most exquisite 
Caiques appeared ; they were each of twenty-four oars, sil- 
vered and gilt ; some with doves on the prow ; two with 
Thrones ; in one, under the Throne canopy, sat the Sultan, 
Abdul Meschid, wearing the Fez, blue frock coat, and sword j 
a young man; under the other Throne sat some of the fami- 
ly, and an official or two in each of the others. As soon as 
they drew up, Donistti's (the brother of the Italian compo- 
ser,) fine band played something like an Opera air ; the 
eight or ten Pachas in front receiving the Sultan with the 
Oriental Salaam j they wore the same uniform, but with a 
rich star of diamonds. Reschid Pacha, the Grand Vizier, is 
a portly, black-haired Turk, of about fifty years of age. 
The Seraskier Pacha is a white haired, shrewd looking little 
old Turk ; and there were several others of the whole cabinet 
in a line. The Sultan entered the Mosque, attended by 
them, and a large guard, mostly in this uniform, looking like 
French soldiers. His Caiques soon rowed back. I waited 
some half an hour. The Pachas got under an old tree and 

ceived his commission to proceed to the United Sstates on a Scientific 
Mission, from the Czar. 

By his long residence in our country, and through his recent matrimo 
nial alliance with the family of the late John Jacob Astor, he has become as 
widely known as he is esteemed. 

12 



178 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

smoked their pipes, and Officers and horses scattered them- 
selves about. The line of soldiers, at last, after a good ma- 
ny efforts, got nearly straight, and soon the Sultan came out 
with a suite of horses, servants, and everything in confusion ; 
the Grand Vizier walking by his side, and talking rapidly. 
They walked up the line of the troops. The Sultan may 
be young, but he looks as if he were forty ; a stolid face, with 
black eyes and hair, yellow skin, and long sharp nose ; short 
stature, say just over five feet, and shambling gait ; wore a 
blue military cloak and sabre, and looked like a man in the 
last stage of the liver complaint. He went up the grand 
stairs of the barracks, and staid within for a few minutes ; 
the soldiers ran up funnily, to the side door, as if to be re- 
viewed there, then soon ran back, and in a line again, as be- 
fore ; then down came horses, Sultan, and all, down the stairs, 
and he then went on board a smaller Caique, under a red um- 
brella ; the Pachas bowed deeply, the band played, and the 
Brother of the Sun and Moon went off. Two poor women 
rushed shrieking and holding up petitions along the shore, but 
they were put away rudely by the soldiery ; and then I rowed 
back in my Caique, struggled up to the Mosque of the dan- 
cing Dervishes, and their dances to-day were just over. Went 
on board a friend's ship and lunched ; then rowed "to Scutari 
and back, then walked to the Promenade of Pera, dined, and 
at home for the evening. 

30th. — After making a few calls, mounted horse and rode 
through the wretched streets of Stamboul to St. Sophia ; look- 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 1T9 

ed in from the outer door ; they are repairing the interior, 
and could see but little ; then through the Seraglio Courts, 
to the Hippodrome, or Atmeidan ; and then out to the Seven 
Towers and old Walls, of the time of the Roman ami] Greek 
Empire, still fresh as of old. The last pleased me much ; but 
it is almost a thankless task to slip through these silent, mo- 
notonous, miry, and intricate lanes, called streets. Evening 
passed at Dr. Smith's. 

31sx — Sunday.— Went to the Missionary Church here, with 
Dr. Smith ; the service was held in a large plain room in the 
house of Mr. Dwight; a poor sermon was preached by Mr. 
Schaffer, one of the Missionaries. In the afternoon went out 
to the miserable Cafe, and grave yard, which is the fash- 
ionable promenade of Pera ; a German Band was playing in 
the wretched Cafe opposite, and some common looking people 
were smoking, &c. ; but enjoyed a fine walk and a beautiful 
view of the glorious Bosphorus, from the hills beyond. 

Nov. 1st. — A party of ten were mustered to-day, and 800 
piastres subscribed, were to pay the douceurs. Mr. Brown, 
U. S. Dragoman, came with his servants and a firman, and 
we started for the lions ; and first went to the Mosque at 
Tophana. It is of fine white marble. One Mosque is like 
another, so its description will answer for all : a fine Dome is 
ornamented with inscriptions of the names of the four great Ca- 
liphs, and verses of the Koran. The floor is bare of seats, of 
course, but covered with matting ; there is the niche of Mihrab, 
the Altar, or Direction of Mecca. No ornament is seen save 



180 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

two great wax candles near the Mihrab ; the singular pulpit 
with a spire-like cover, and marble stairs are on one side, and is 
used for the Friday prayer, for the Sultan, and is called the 
chiatib; the small, low, and movable desk or pulpit, of ebony in- 
laid with ivory, and cushion, is used for the daily preaching, 
many lamps are suspended from all parts ; the Sultan's box, or 
private oratory, with its gilt railings, suite of rooms and baths 
form the gallery. This Mosque is smaller, but is much like 
the rest. Then in a Caique to the Seraglio ; we went over the 
most of it ; the Court Yard, where the Deridjce was played ; 
the large buttawridly furnished rooms. The ancient Throne 
in the inmost Court, looks like a huge bedstead ; its posts 
are silver gilt, and set with precious stones ; while many large 
gems hang upon its posts as ornaments ; the Grand Vizier's 
apartments, where foreign ministers were formerly first re- 
ceived, and this whole Inner Court is purely oriental ; in the 
musty old State Library opposite, are the curious portraits 
of all the Sultans to the grandfather of the present Sultan, 
painted on a Genealogical Tree ; admired the Orangery, with 
the Fruit climbing to the very roof, the French Garden, the 
Sultan's richly jewelled arms, and above all, the exquisite 
views you have from the windows over those fair blue waters 
of the Bosphorus and the Lake of Marmora. Then into the 
Mint ; their process is like that of London ; they were coin- 
ing copper. The machinery is driven by steam, and is large 
and efficient. Then to St. Sophia. Within a year past they 
have been repairing and restoring it. It is full of scaffolding, 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 181 

and so difficult to see the interior well. The height of the 
dome and a portion of the west end is all that can be judged 
of, and they do not approach descriptions. The porphyry 
columns, and the green marble columns, from the Temple of 
Diana of Ephesus, are large and grand ; much of the marble 
on the walls is very beautiful, and also the marble pavement 
in the Women's Gallery, or Gunaikon, and the ancient 
Bronze Doors ; then to the Armory, occupying the Church of 
the Empress Irene ; the lower portion is filled with modern 
arms ; the above is likewise, and there also is a case contain- 
ing a collection of splendid gold and silver keys, and said to 
be those of Mecca, Stamboul, Varna, &c, &c, — of all the 
towns of the Empire surrendered to the Turks ; also, a very 
fine collection of Saracen Helmets, Shields, Swords, and 
Chain-Mails, chased on glaive and gauntlet, in gold, with 
sentences from Koran, and some Crusaders' helmets. Then 
to the Mosque of Sultan Achmed. It is immense in propor- 
tions ; and its marble pillars are collossal ; otherwise it is 
like the first description. Then to Sultan Mahomeds ; it was 
of vast size, but like the others ; and here there was service ; 
eight priests, squatted on cushions in front of their desks for 
pulpits, of about two feet high, of mother of pearl, were reading 
and expounding the Koran in different places, over the great 
floor, each to his squatted or reclining group of Moslems. 
They talked loudly, volubly, and with as much gesture as our 
field Preachers. Many groups were praying about. Then to 
the Sultan Suleman's Mosque, which, though similar, is by far 



182 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

the grandest and finest. Here also was service, in the same way. 
Then to the Mausoleum of Sultan Mahmoud, the father of 
the present Sultan ; it is a fine new Marble Pavillion. The 
Tomb is shaped like a Sarcophagus, covered with Cachcmire 
Shawls ; surmounted with a Fez at one end, bearing Paradise 
feathers, and carrying a rich cluster of diamonds, and is sur- 
rounded with a pearl railing. There were two similar 
Tombs, without the Fez, for the Sultanas. Saw also the 
Tombs of Sultan Achmcd and of others, but they could not 
be compared with this in beauty. Mr. Brown informed me 
that there is now neither court dress, or reception days. 
That the Sultan receives with the simple courtesies of a gen- 
tleman ; he spoke highly of his intelligence, as also did Dr. 
Davis, the Sultan's Cotton Superintendent, from Charleston, 
U. S. Returned home fatigued in the evening. Mr. Osca- 
nean, an Armenian gentleman, who was educated at the N. 
Y. University, and married the daughter of Rev. T. H. Skin- 
ner there, called in the evening to reneAV his old acquaintance. 

2d. — Blowing and raining hard ; took a short ramble in 
Galata, made a few calls, dined Avith a friend, and returned 
to write letters. 

3d. — Same storm yet ; at home, letter writing. 

4th. — Spent the day in Bazaars, made a few purchases of 
embroidery, &c. 

5th. — Gave letters to L. to mail. Saw the Sultan and his 
grand suite, near the arsenal, at the hauling out of a frigate, 
a very fine seventy -four : his tents of green were pitched, 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 183 

and his scarlet uniformed guards and band were the same 
as last week, but his barges were still finer in their colors of 
red and gold. Returned home, packed up books, &c, and 
sent them by a friend to Liverpool. 

Gth. — Morning, business. Received letter from D. and 
from Tupper ; stormy, at home. 

7th. — Bought passage ticket $52, and chose berth on board 
Steamer Mentor to Malta : busy about passports, &c. ; raining 
hard. 

8th. — Towards noon, better weather ; went on board the 
Mentor, French post steamer : foggy night ; slow boat ; good 
berths; poor meals; mixed passengers as usual, a Turkisk 
Effendi, a Greek Bishop, with a long beard, and the rest of 
all the European nations. 

9th. — About 10 A. M., arrived at the Dardanelles ; wea- 
ther bright ; the forts are finely situated in a grand amphi- 
theatre of hills ; too foggy to see Mount Ida — but soon the 
weather cleared up and the bright cliffs of Teuedos, and the 
grand hills, shadowed deep and dark, and lofty, rose, and re- 
mained long in view. We sailed near the coast, and soon 
neared Mitylene. 

10th. — We arrived at Smyrna early this morning, and re- 
mained six hours in view, under a bright sky, being preven- 
ted from landing by the new quarantine regulations. The 
town lacks interest in its view ; but it is situated at the foot of a 
superb bay of thirty miles depth, in a circle of mountains, and 
we were two hours going out through this bay, passing near 



184 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

grand hills, like Swiss scenery, throwing down rich shadows ; 
many fine headlands, with forts, and under a group of 
islands, lay the Turkish fleet. This sail is grand ; lofty 
mountains, wooded to the top ; bold crags and hills, running 
sheer to the water's edge. We started from Smyrna about 
11, A. M., and passed the Cape, at the mouth of the Bay, 
about 3, P. M. Soon the grand mountains of Scio were in 
view, with their cloud-capt summits, and then the rocks of 
Ypsari, in a fine, starry, and mild evening. 

11th. — About 9, A. M., having entered the Bay of Sa- 
lamis, we came in full view of Mount Parnassus, Hymettus, 
and Pentelicus, and the city of Athens, and then the Par- 
thenon, and the Acropolis, and the Chapel on the site of the 
Temple of Jupiter, the Stadium, and, in front, the great 
white Palace of King Otho. The amphitheatre of hills, 
with their changing hues ; Parnassus, with its snowy peaks, 
and the pellucid, blue waters of the sea were beautiful, but 
a quarantine of twenty-one days was declared, and we could 
not even approach the Piraeus, and so were obliged to lay 
all day in the sight of Sunium. A' French frigate from 
Smyrna, likewise lay in quarantine, and boarded us. After 
a long parley with the authorities, who would not permit us 
to land, we sailed off twenty miles farther, to the island of 
Egina, where a large party of Greeks, princes, and the 
archbishop and their suite, landed for twenty-one days' quar- 
antine. The town of Egina is modern, and without inte- 
rest, upon a barren coast ; but we were near the exquisite 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 185 

ruins of the Temple of Jupiter, on its grand height, and 
in the midst of fine scenery, and under a deliciously bright 
atmosphere. Left Egina, about 6 P. M., and steamed away 
all night. 

12th. — About 8 P. M., found ourselves passing Cape 
Matapan, a rocky headland, with a strong west wind, mak- 
ing good way, in a fine morning, and running near ten knots 
an hour. Afternoon and night, severe tempest and quite 
cold. 

13th. — Very fine weather again : sea has fallen, and some 
sail are seen ; our rate is eight and a half knots ; weather 
changed to showery, and warm as midsummer. 

14th — About 9 A. M., arrived at Malta ; and were de- 
ligted to hear that our quarantine was only for five whole 
days ; our time from Smyrna being counted ; so, landed in a 
small boat, at Fort Manuel, and there made ourselves quite 
comfortable, being in full view of the city of Valetta. 
Weather, bright and warm, like July ; dispatched letters. 
There came up a fine, August-like shower in the afternoon. 
Frequently, from the city, came over the heavy, rich, and 
sweet tones of the bell of St. John's Cathedral, and, in the 
fine, starry evening, the numerous other church-bells were 
ringing in delightful unison. It is so long since I have 
heard anything but a Muezzin's call, that they seem delight- 
ful, and strange music. 

15th. — Counting as No. three of quarantine — weather 
equivocal : wrote to Rome. Morning, till 3 P. M., writing 



186 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

letters ; walked on the ramparts, and afterwards made my- 
self happy with Irving's Sketch Book, borrowed from town 
library. In the evening it blew a regular Levanter. 

16th. — Evening, finished reading of Irving ; fine weather, 
like June again, and very hot at noon. 

17th. — Blowy, but fine ; spent in sauntering about the 
ramparts, and reading newspapers, all day, wrote letters in 
the evening : just heard that we were threatened with an ex- 
tension of quarantine ; a man has been taken sick on board 
of our steamer, and she has been ordered to ride out to sea. 
Heavy thunder shower in the evening ; the man, (1st Lieut.), 
has died, unquestionably from his intoxicating habits ; but 
the surgeon has reported it Asiatic Cholera. 

18th. — Beautiful day ; a few more arrivals into quaran- 
tine, by the Rostang steamer, from Constantinople ; occupied 
in writing ; gale at night as usual. Two Arabs, and Mr. 
Meline, of Leghorn, have come here by this steamer. 

19th. — Fine day ; same sort of occupation. 

20th. — Beautiful summer-like weather, and a delicious 
moonlight ; writing in the morning as usual, and, after din- 
ner, took my old walk about the ramparts. 

21st. — Similar day ; weather bad : grew very warm, like 
August, and a delicious moonlight : wrote some letters, etc. 

22d. — Fine morning, like that of yesterday ; but in the 
evening a heavy thunder storm, lasting all night ; wrote let- 
ters, etc. 

23d.— Storm continued all day, till about 8 P. M., when 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 187 

cleared up, but blowing a severe Levanter : reading, etc. 

24th. — Received third note from Winthrop, Consul ; mail- 
ed letters : cloudy and blowy weather, with a violent gale ; 
a number of passengers, by the French steamer, from the 
East, came into Lazzareto. The Cholera is reported offi- 
cially to have ceased there, and this boat came in pratique. 

25th. — Received note from Board of Health, fixing our 
quarantine at twenty days from the fourth instant : wrote 
thereon to our Consul, and to the English Governor of 
Malta : Messrs. Winthrop, the Consul, and Captain Engle, 
of the Princeton, just arrived, called to see me in the Pur- 
gatorio. Signed remonstrance to English Governor. 

26th.- -Wrote and posted letters ; weather continued fine. 
Rain has not fallen here before in three years, and they 
attribute the recent showers to the special prayers, masses, 
and bell-ringings. 

27th. — Fine day : unfavorable answers from both appli- 
cations. Received letter from Rome : usual occupations. 

28th Superb summer day : atmosphere is remarkably 

clear and brilliant, with meteors at night— Sunday, 
c 29th. — Fine summer day again ; but Levanter as usual 
at night : good news, by steamer, of 1st Nov., from the East, 
and we leave here on 4th, A. M. 

30th. — Violent Levanter all day, with thunder and light- 
ning at night ; usual employments. 

Dec. 1st.— Wrote letters, etc. Our Captain of quar- 
antine came over to say that we leave on the third instant. 



188 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

2d.— The curious, one-eyed doctor of quarantine, made 
us a formal visit : paid up our Governor and furniture bills. 

3d.— At 7 A. M., the Captain of quarantine, came to 
give me pratique, shaking hands in security, and I went on 
shore to the Hotel Oriental, and breakfasted with Meline ; 
then to Consul Winthrop's ; then through the Palace Ar- 
mory, Cathedral, and library, and about the town. It was 
interesting to see the relics of the knights, everywhere : and 
to see the crowds of shovel-hatted priests jostling in their 
narrow streets, among the belles of Malta, all in their black 
silk head-covering, or Spanish mantilla. 

4th.— Morning at Mr. S.'s ; then strolled about the town, 
and in the afternoon drove to Citta Vecchia ; where looked 
into the Cathedral, St. Paul's Cavern, Grotto, the curious old 
town, where tradition says the apostle landed, and St. Paul's 
Bay. Evening at the opera, and heard Don Pasquale : a 
neat house, but poor company. 

5th. — Weather always like June, with early fruit etc. 

Sunday, bought ticket in the French steamer to Civita Vec- 

cisa, twenty eight dollars, then heard a good sermon at St. 

Paul's, English, beautiful church ; after dinner listened to 

1 band in the piazza di St. GeorgW. Evening at horn 

!\ 6th. — At day break on board steamer Leonidas, the sail 
in the morning was without interest ; but in the afternoon 
we were a long while in view of the snowy summit of Mount 
Etna ; though too distant to see Catania : — fine day. 

7th. — After blowy and disagreable weather during the 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 189 

night ; in the morning passed Stromboli, which was smoking 
away as usual : weather was very bad with short seas, — 
concluded to land at Naples, with my travelling friend Mr. 
Emanuel Micriditz. 

8th. — About 9 A. M., arrived at Naples ; after a tremen- 
dous gale : the Bay is not to be compared as a harbor to that 
of New York. Debarked, and went to the Hotel de Grande 
Bretagne on the Chiaja ; it was raining fast but strolled about, 
calling on Mr. Hamet, U. S. Consul, and went into the 
beautiful marble church of Francis of Paul. Evening was 
at San Carlo : the entree to Parquette, was 3 fr. ; heard 
Merope and saw the Ballet or Pantomime of Iphigenia in 
Aulis. Poor company ; but the house^is of grand proportions 
with decorations, of gold, and crimson, and superb scenery. 

9th. — Eearly this morning, was at the museum for some 
five hours ; first through the rooms of Frescoes, so admirably 
fresh, and beautiful ; then the numerous rooms of statues, 
the Bronzes ; and how many have been copied !— here are 
the equestrian statues of Baldus, the Bronze horse, and (p , 
head, and innumerable statues, of the Emperor's, God's, Ter- 
mini, etc. ; Victory, Mercury, Faun dancing, beautiful 
marble pillars, mosaics, the Darius, and Alexander, the Venus 
of Praxiteles, the Hercules of Farnese, the grand and exqui- 
site group from the baths of Caracalla, and then the innu- 
merable utensils of the kitchen, bath, and ornaments of 
Bronze, and armor, and the secret mused" etc. ; then the A 
library, whose principal room is immense, vaulted, with an 



190 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

echo of thirty -two times, a meridian on the floor, 200,000 
books, and a fine reading room ; then the Gallery of Pictures ; 
there were a great many indifferent, but there were also fine 
Corregios, Raphaels, Titian's Magdalene, a Columbus said b} 
Parmegiano and engraved in Prescott's history of Ferdinand 
and Isaballa, Titians, Danae, and fine Canalettos ; but the 
whole collection is neither large, well chosen, or well arranged. 
Afterwards walked about the Giardino del Re, dined at 
Trattoria della Villa di Napsoli ; evening was at the Buffa 
theatre, San Carlino ; "I due poeti" was a capital national 
Vaudeville, well done, before a miserable house ; seat here 
in the platea was but two carlinos, about one franc. Weather 
frseh, but clear, May-like. 

10th. — Took rails at half-past 10 to Torre del annun- 
ziata ; and then a carriage to Pompeii. Spent six hours there 
walking over those deserted streets ; the finest object there 
was the house of Diomede, its frescos, mosaics, and foun- 
tains ; all of the houses though differing in ornament, are 
uniform in plan, and style, and neat as the Poets house &c. ; 
and the new house, just excavated this year ; how admirably 
fresh those frescos and mosaics, and how many are still left ; 
there the mills, granaries, cafe's and fountains, in every 
street, the carriage ruts are still there ; then among the 
Temples, and that superb Forum the Temple of Jupiter 
behind the Theatre, and the Temple of Hercules, and all 
their remains so wonderfully preserved ; then that superb 
Amphitheatre ; and as you sit there, on those same sedillac 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 191 

with gloomy, vast Vesuvius smoking yet, and lowering over 
you, with that bright smiling sea, and the fields now fresh as 
in the verdure of June, or July, we can neither wonder that 
their taste was to leave it open to the sky, nor that, the 
fancy, that they were here assembled at the time of the 
Eruption, is true. But what a scene this must have been 
at the moment when they first excavated ; when every object 
now in the Musee was in its original place, although its a 
office was lost, and its master was found a skeleton ! Cer- 
tainly not one-half this great city is yet excavated although 
the richJMuseum teems with its unburied spoils. Returned 
by Portici, to Herculaneum ; all that is visible is the Theatre 
so choked with lava ; seeming as if it had here run in at an 
instant in masses of molten fire ; whereas at Pompeii, you 
see that the showers of ashes came first"; with one or two, 
short streets and all under modern Portici, with delightful 
moonlight views of the delicious Bay, with Castellmare 
Baiae, and Naples lit up against the deep mountain shadows, 
to a Trattoria to dinner, and then home ; weather although 
a little fresh, all the Italians mounting over coats, comfor- 
ters, &c. — was like our early June ; oranges, limes, " and 
every kind of vegetable were all in full bloom and verdure, 
beautiful roses and camelias in bloom in the open air at Pom- 
peii, but the forest^trees heave shed their leaves and are 
bare. 

11th — Rose late, and spent an hour in the Musee, looking 
at the exquisite gems, jewellery, the cameos, and the im- 



192 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

mense cameo of Medusa on the one side, and the opposite of 
Apollo, &c, the remains of repasts, the eggs, olives, pears 
&c., wool and cotton, all carbonized ; the colors in pots taken 
from the shop still fresh, and uncarbonized, the pence, and 
coins, the medals &c, of Pompeii; a number of bracelets, 
brooches, and amulets of gold, some of which were found 
this year, the immense piece of asbertos, the mosaic " cave 
leonem" found like the " Salve" — still there at the portals ; 
then through the gallery ; very few paintings are worth 
remark ; a few fair Rembrandts, a MasaiAiello some Spagna- <yi/ 
letto's, and abundance of Virgins, &c, of the Neapolitan 
school then called on Mr. Caraviguy's, Ex Consul U. S. at 
Algier's then drove through the Chiaja, Grotto of Posilippo, 
to the tomb of Virgil ; enjoyed the beautiful view thence ; 
then to the Cafe di Europa, to dinner, a short walk upon 
the Chiaja again afterwards, and then home. It was a 
day of transparent sunshine": the trees of the Giardino del 
Re were yet bright and green ; luscious oranges drooped 
from the boughs on all sides in our Hotel Garden : in the 
middle of this fine and oft-pictured panorama, seen from the 
heights of the so called tomb of Virgil, and going slowly 
past the marble palaces of the Chiaja, in the midst of its 
broad thoroughfare was a procession of white-robed monks ; 
perhaps — of the order of St. Dominic ; — several hundreds 
of them, with much pomp of banners, cross, censers 
croziers and rich host-canopy. They formed a fine con- 
trast to the gaily-dressed, rich-livered Neapolitans who t- 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 193 

rattled by, and to the picturesque Masaniellos upon the 
Riviera. 

12th.— Morning at the English church in the consulate ; 
a fine room, dull sermon ; some eight hundred or . more of 
English travellers were there ; afterwards looked at the 
church" of St. Januariaus ; now being repaired. They 
showed the fine paintings, gilding, and the miraculous blood 
of the saint, etc ; and then to the church of the Jesuits, 
with its grand altar of Lapis Lazuli ; bought ticket in dili- 
gence of Tuesday week for Rome ; evening at the Theatre 
desFlorentines ; some fine acting in the " Sculptor of Genoa" 
and " II Seccatore" or the Italian version of Paul Pry ; Leo- 
pold, the brother of the king was there in state ; rainy day 
and cold catching. 

13th. — Beautiful weather again; took the 9 A. M., train 
with my friend Em. Micriditz compagnon du voyage from 
Malta, to La Caserta the summer palace of the King. The 
road runs through rich fields, now clothed with verdure as in 
June, although the trees are leafless, and all over are these 
peasants in their picturesque costumes ; ride was over an 
hour in poor cars, with English engines ; the Palace is a 
large square building of Grecian style ; there are some few 
chambers with fine marbles, and much elegant gilding ; the 
rest is about the same style as the Burgh in Vienna ; there 
are some water-works, and ponds in the French taste, and 
an ill looking garden : returned about 3 P.M., shopped and 
at home in the evening preparing for to-morrow's start. 



194 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

— 

14th. — At 8 A.M., seated in the coupe of the Diligence 
for Rome. The weather was lovely ; and all the day long 
there rose a succession of the most beautiful landscapes ; — 
at 12 at night arrived at Terracina passing under a fine 
moonlight through Mola di Gacta which with its tower and sea 
view, is situated much like Naples ; and also passing the 
fortress, and manor of Fra Diavolo near to Terracina and 
its famous inn and there changing to a larger diligence. 

I 15th. — About 8 A. M., we are at Velletri, and presently 
the fine campagna began to spread away before us, and about 

II A. M., we ascended the last hill and came in full sight 
of Rome. It is not grand in this view. St. Peter's of 
course is the great object ; but how beautiful ! Does not its 
noble position become the Mistress of the world ? At noon we 
arrived at Hotel de Cesari, and I received many letters from 
M. F. Tupper and others. 

16th. — Spent some five hours to day, in what after all, 
was but a hasty glance at the grandeur of St Peters ; then 
an hour or more in the crowd among the antiquities of the 
Vatican. The facade and first view of St. Peter's disap- 
pointed as is usual with every one, but when under the 
dome, I began to feel some sense of the immensity and mag- 
nificence of this fitting successor to that mighty temple of 
old at Jerusalem. 

17th. — Rose early ; wrote letters : then to the Senators' 
Tower, on the Capitol, or modern Campidoglio, and there en- 
joyed a fine view of this whole amphitheatre ; theCampagna, 



OIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 195 

bestrewed with the wreck of ages, spreading for miles 
around ; the ancient Seven Hills, now nearly all ruin- 
crowned ; the eternal Coliseum, before me, and so near ; 
the Arch of Scverus ; the Forum ; the Arches of Titus, 
and Constantine ; the Via della Pace through the Forum ; 
all, in this balmy atmosphere, fresh yet, as in the days of 
their first glory ; and behind me, modern Rome spread away 
in beauty over the ancient Campus Martius. Then I went 
down among the ruins, and spent some hours in the Forum 
and Coliseum, and about the Arches of Constantine, Titus, 
and Severus ; and afterwards to the St. John Lateran, and 
looked long, with delight, at the exquisite Corsini Chapel, 
and beneath at Bernini's Pieta, and others there of the most 
superb statues and marbles ; and then the gilded roof of 
the nave, and the curious Mosaics in the Apse of the choir, 
and saw the people going on their knees up the Scala Santa. 
Whilst in the Coliseum, a procession of Brothers of Mercy, 
with lighted lanterns, and in grey veils and hoods, came in, 
and a Capuchin mounted the pulpit, and preached to a con- 
siderable congregation: a few more worshippers gathered 
around, and, from my seat on one of the upper arches, this 
little group formed a picturesque addition to the solemn and 
beautiful grandeur. 

18th. — Went this morning to the beautiful Pantheon ; to 
look upon its faultless dome ; its pillars of giallo antico, its 
beautiful friezes, its simple monuments to the mighty dead ; 
though constantly exposed, by its open roof, to the weather, 



196 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

there h but little injury even now, after the lapse of ages ; 
then drove around the Pincian hill ; beautiful, with its fresh 
verdure and fine views ; then an hour in the reading room, 
in the Piazza di Spagna ; then to Santa Maria Maggiorc. 
The Eunuchs were sweetly chanting in the exquisite Sacra- 
ment chapel, so rich in all gilding, mosaics, and marbles ; and 
after the chant ceased, walked up the glorious nave, with 
gilded ceiling : flat, in gold panels, and with an apse, and 
Bronze Baldaquin, like the St. John Lateran. 

19th. — Sunday. — Raining hard ; rose late, spent an hour 
or two with Mr. Crawford, the American sculptor, living at 
No. 504 in the Corso ; showed me a pretty group just cut for 
Mr. Parish of New York, of " Apollo instructing Diana on 
the lute," and a figure of " Flora" for Mr. Haight, of New 
York : then heard the beautiful music at Vespers, in the 
chapel di Santo Coro, at St. Peter's. Evening at home. 

20th. — Went in the morning through the catacombs of 
St. Peter ; they are full of rich bas-reliefs, of statues, of 
mosaics, and pavements, of the old Basilica with rich fres- 
coes, the Tombs of the Popes, and the Stuarts, and the fa- 
mous Tomb of St. Peter, under the Altar ; the monuments of 
the Pop3S and others being in the Church above, exactly over 
these Tombs : then to the paintings in the Vatican ; and first 
of all Domenichino's " Jerome," Raphael's " Stanze," the 
" Heliodorus," and the " Release of Peter." Then some hours 
in the Nuovo Braccio, where are the Demosthenes, the Nile, 
the Titus, and Julia, etc. ; then the vast population of statues 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 197 

in the Cliiaramonti rooms, the exquisite Bust of Augustus, 
&c, &c, finishing as usual at the Laocoon and Apollo. 
Evening at Mr. Brown's, U. S. Consul here ; spent some 
hours in the Vatican' library, among its fine frescos, and in- 
terminable suite of rooms ; the books are locked in closets, 
and are inaccessible without special permission. 

21 st. — Morning at St. Pietro, in Viucolis, admiring^ the 
"Moses" of Michael Angelo, and the St. Margaret ; then 
to the Gallery and Museum of the Capitol, and long admired 
the paintings of the Petronella, the Birth of the Virgin, the 
Last Supper, in miniature, the marble of the Gladiator, the 
Fawn, the Venus, &c. ; then to Caracalla's Baths, and when 
on its lofty roof, in a balmy evening, I could not wonder that 
immortal Shelley should have loved to linger on the spot, and 
that on its roof he should have composed his "Cenci," and 
other things in verse divine. 

22d. — Went to St. Maria sopra Minerva, to look upon 
Angelo's "Christ ;" then to the Jesuit Church, so luxurious- 
ly splendid, in lapis lazuli, giallo antico, &c. ; then to St. 
Paul fuori le mure, the most tasteful and splendid of all the 
smaller Basilicas, with a transept very grand and lofty, of 
white marble, the Pope's chair, the painting of St. Paul~borne 
upward by angels, and on either side the statue of St. Ste- 
phen, and Benedict, all modern, and exquisitely beautiful ; 
the Nave with its multitude of granite columns, and the op- 
posite transept yet unfinished ; they are now rebuilding, 
after the fire of 1824 ; the cloisters have a singular variety 



198 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

of columns. Rained hard ; returning went to the Barberini 
Palace ; saw the "Beatrice Cenci" and the "Potiphar's Wife" 
and some Raphaels ; Evening with Mr. Crawford. 

23d. — Spent an hour or two in the Fabrique des Mosaiques, 
on the right of the Vestibule, where the beautiful paintings 
of the church are slowly formed, and the rest of the day at 
the Vatican. Received letters. 

24th. — At the Palazzo Borghese, and Sciarra Galleries, 
in the morning ; and in the afternoon at the Quirinal Chapel, 
to hear Vespers chanted. Pope Pius IX, and all the car- 
dinals were there, and performed the service ; he is about 58 
years old ; intelligent face, active manner, and fine voice. 
Evening at Santa Maria Maggiore ; beautifully illuminated ; 
vast crowds of spectators, all the Papal guards in their fine 
uniforms; the Pope was brought in on the "Throne Portatif," 
with the Ostrich flambelles, — the crown and sword which are 
then blessed, borne before him, in a grand procession through 
the Nave, with cardinals, priests, cross, censers, candles, &c, 
the troops in two lines, forming a long alley ; the ceremonies 
and the mass celebrated by Pius IX, with such a galaxy of 
light and splendor, formed a grand and imposing spectacle. 

25th. — Early at St. Peters; similar procession as of 
last night, but still greater crowd ; a fine show of uniforms 
by foreign ministers, &c. ; some rich music, but generally 
the same broken chant. Went into some half dozen church- 
es in and about the Corso ; small, crowded with poor pictures 
and tolerable monuments ; rained hard, and at home evening. 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 19 

26th. — Pouring rain; however, saw some half dozen 
churches. Evening at the Opera house Delea Valle ; heard 
"Italiana in Alghini ;" sung by the fine tenor Pozzolini Gaspa- 
rini, a debutant. 

27th. — Morning with Mr. Brown, U. S. Consul. Went 
to see Mr. Freeman, the artist here, from N. Y. ; he showed 
some fine pictures ; a new one of "the Marys at the Tomb," 
in Cartoon, but the studies of the angels' heads were finish- 
ed, and were lovely. Called on Mr. Crawford ; raining, as 
usual. Evening at the Apollo Theatre ; Ivanhoff was sing- 
ing here, and as I thought, not equal to his reputation. 

28th. — Morning drove with a friend, to the Columbaria ; 
passing by Rienzi's house, now a stable, and the Tarpeian 
Rock. Then with friend Micriditz to visit cardinal Mezzo 
fanti ; there was no ceremony ; the previous day his Major 
Domo had sent us cards for this honor, so we merely sent in 
our cards. He has a fine Palace here in the Piazza Venezia ; 
after waiting a little while, the cardinal came in ; he is short, 
with a highly expressive face ; he sat down and received us 
with great cordiality ; conversed some hour with my friend, 
in Greek, Arabic, Turkish, Spanish, and other Dialects ; and 
in Italian, French, German, and English, with me ; told me that 
he is now 74 ; Avas born at Bologna ; has studied fifty lan- 
guages ; showed an intimate knowledge of the literature of 
these languages, and the politics of America; then looked at 
some pictures in the Farncsina and Farnese Palaces. Eve- 
ning at the Opera, in the Teatro della Valle. 



200 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE 

29th. — Went to the Baths of Titus, so called ; the ruins 
are indistinct, but extensive, with some beautiful Arabesques ; 
then to the Columbaria ; the most interesting of all ; the ash- 
es, inscription, lamp, and olla all yet remain perfect ; they 
were roofing the new one, just discovered in the same field, 
then went through the deserted catacombs of the Scipios ; 
then to the Spada Palace, to look at Pompey's statue ; then 
to the Rospigliosi Palace, where is the enchanting "Aurora" 
of Guido, the "Samson," by Caracci, the "Expulsion," &c. ; 
then to the Doria Palace, where are the Sassoferratos, "Holy 
Family;" bright, clear, and natural as Murillo's Madonna, 
at Dresden, the portrait of Machiavelli, [Ruben's confessor, 
Clande's Moline, and Temple of Apollo, S. Rosa's Belisarius, 
Teniers, Marriage Feast, with his own portrait," and many 
other fine things by Tempesta, Guidos, &c, and Carracci's 
ascension of the Virgin, and a fine bust of the old Admiral 
Andrea Doria ; then drove out through the fine Park to the 
Casino: Villa Borghese. The frescos in the first grand room 
of Acton breaking the League with Brennus, the Hermaphro- 
dite, the Fawn, Leda with the Swan, the mosaic showing the 
Gladiators in the armor of the middle ages, the Sarcophagus, 
the Porphyry and Alabaster vases, and every room rich in 
exquisite frescos and superb statues, with the mosaic showing 
the federal rite of the Republics ; then drove through the tour 
on Pincian hill, quite crowded, being so fine a day, and made 
some calls in the evening. 

30th. — Raining as usual ; made some calls in the morning 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 201 

and went to the the interesting Etruscan Museum of Cheva- 
lier Canrpana, and at 8. P. M., took seat in the diligence 
for Civita Vecchia. 

31 st. — Arrived at 6 A. M. at Hotel Orlandi ; the boat 
had not yet arrived from Naples, detained by reason of the 
storm ; so walked about the stupid town, where there is noth- 
ing but Trajans Mole to look at. 

Jan. 1st, 1848. — Wet miserable day. Steamer Mentor 
arrived ; this was the same unlucky boat by which I came to 
Malta ; went on board about 12 M., and off at 2 ; steamer 
had to make twelve days quarantine at Marseilles, when she 
was ordered off from Malta. 

2d. — At Leghorn, about 6 A. M., breakfasted at Hotel 
St. Mark, (kept by John Smith,) and took cars to Empoli, 
and then eighteen miles in Vetturino to Florence, where we 
arrived about 5 P. M. Evening at La Pergola, a very 
handsome house ; but Lucia was sung very badly to a thin 
audience ; cleared up at last this evening. 

3d. — Imperial gallery, Palazzo Pitti, Cathedral, and Bap- 
tistery to day ; evening at Opera. 

4th. — All clay spent between the Palazzo Pitti and the 
Santa Croce, where one of the most impressive monuments 
is that of Dante. Home for the evening. 

5th. — To-day with Mr. Powers in his studio ; showed 
me his Eve, Greek Slave, Fisher boy, and Proserpine ; they 
are all beautiful ; his Calhoun is not yet in marble ; there 
are also many good busts there : spent some hour or more 



202 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

with him, talking of the Lester Affair, and the past history of 
his own life ; then through the beautifully arranged Musee 
National and the wax preparations for comparative anato- 
my ; and another collection like the Josephinum of Vienna ; 
then at the Galileo Tribune ; it is exquisite ; and to the 
Medici Chapel ; then drove an hour on the lovely Cascino, 
and in the evening at Leatro Nuovo, where we had a good 
comedy in a fine house ; to-night there were three torchlight 
processions, and the boys were blowing glass horns, as in hon- 
or of the'Eve of the Fete of the Epiphany ; an ancient custom 
of Florence. 

6th. Fete of the Epiphany, and nothing open but the 
churches ; heard the music in cathedral in the morning. 
Received letters. Passed the afternoon in the delightful Bob- 
oli Gardens. Evening wrote letters. 

7th. Morning in the academy of the fine arts, admiring 
the Peruginos, Bronzinos, &c. ; the modern pictures are not 
good. Here is a Carlo Dolci of (God) and but for its gross 
impiety it would be a divine picture, and in the small room 
are some fine casts ; then went to Greenough's Studio ; his 
colossal group of the backwoodsman seizing an Indian is yet 
unfinished ; there was a beautiful Relief there, and heads of 
Lucifer and Christ ; then to the church of the Annunziata ; 
admired the shrine, the glorious painting on the dome, the 
cloisters with their monuments and frescos, the enclosed fres- 
cos of Andrea del Sarto, in the vestibule, of the "Visitation 1 ' 
and the "Holy Family" and the "Assumption." The rest 
of the day at the reading room and home. 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 203 

8th. Morning went to St. Maria Noovella ; here are 
beautiful frescos in the cloisters, and fine stainings ; the Span- 
ish chapel, the chapel of the Strozzi, with the marble Madonna 
and child ; then to San Spirito ; then again to the the Tri- 
bune of Galileo, and to the Poste. Received letters. Then 
drove out to the Poggio Iruperiale ; it is superbly situated ; 
and here I admired Angelo's Adonis, the chapel, the grottos, 
and paintings, the Florentine Silk, and some fine rooms ; 
then again to the Cascino ; and in the evening at an excellent 
concert for the benefit of the Guarda Civica here. 

9th. Sunday ; at the English church in the morning. 
Afternoon with Mr. Ombrosi. Evening at home letter wri- 
ting. 

10th. Morning on business, and on my way called at 
the Casa Buonarotti ; it was closed, and is only open on 
Thursdays ; then spent an hour in the Corsini Palace, to ad- 
mire Guido's Lucrece; Raphael's sketch of the last Judgment, 
Cartoon of Pope Julius II, fine Dolci of "Poetry," Rosa,' 
sea views, Beuvenuto's Death of Priam, &c, &c. Evening 
at home. How often in crossing the Cathedral square of 
Florence, is one forced to stop and gaze with admiration on 
that statue of Life ; of Brunclleschi pointing upward to that 
glorious dome hung in air ! 

11th. Took the Diligence and Rails to Leghorn. Mr. 
L. P. Meline met me as I arrived, and drove to his house, 
where some friends were gathered, and we had a pleasant 
evening ; staid with him at his villa here. 



204 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

12th. Quiet to-day ; strolled around the town before 
dinner. 

13th. Took the cars to Pisa : the cathedral is the finest I 
have yet seen in Italy in this style ; the Baptstery is well 
known, and so beautiful, with its musical echo, and fine mar- 
ble pulpit, then the Campo Santo, the Church of the Cava- 
liers of St. Stephen, and a new square and statue of the 
Grand Duke, well done, and the Church of the Madonna della 
Spina, the miniature of the Milan cathedral ; enjoyed the 
fine view from the Ponte a Mare, and as I looked upon its Ve- 
vay-like scenery, Shelley's fine verses on Pisa were again 
present with me. Ibrahim Pacha was walking about the 
Lung Arno. 

14th. — Drove out with Mrs. M. along the shore, passing 
the Turks' Cemetery, to the Ardenza, about three miles drive, 
passed fine villas ; and then to the Cisterno Nuovo, a beauti- 
ful building and reservoir ; passing the New Piazza, and the fine 
statues of the late and present Grand Duke. 

15th. — On board Dante Steamer all day ; and arrived at 
Genoa about 7 P. M., called on some acquaintances, and took 
a stroll about the city in a beautiful moonlight. 

16th. — Saw the Doria Palace, with its fine frescoes, but 
tinsel furniture, the Annunziata, a mass of gilding in doubt- 
ful taste ; the Cathedral, with the Angels by Canova. Eve- 
ning at the Opera Carlo Felice ; a superb house ; heard Tan- 
credi, well sung, with the Ballet of the "Gamin de Paris." 
17th. — To day again among the palaces : saw the Palazzo Se- 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 2C5 

ra with its splendid gilded room, the Brignola Sale, with 
many beautiful Vandykes, Guidos, etc., the Durazzo, with its 
fine marble staircase, and the best gallery ; here are the 
Magdalen, the Democritus, and Heraclitus, and Thetis dip- 
ping Achilles : then walked up to the Aqua Sola Garden, 
where is a fine view of the city, spreading down the amphi- 
theatre of hills to the sea. Then to the Church of Carig- 
nana, with the fine statue of the Mar tyre of St. Bartholomew 
and John the Baptist, and some fine paintings. This church 
is well proportioned : then over the bridge to the Ducal 
Palace, to look at its splendid and ancient Hall of the Doges, '*,!*• 

in marbles, statues, and frescoes. Evening with friends. 

18th. — Snow storm, but went to the Academy, containing 
a finely arranged Gallery of Genoese Painters with the pic- 
ture of the Martyre of St. Bartholomew (stripping the flesh) 
and admirably painted. 

19th. — Went to the Cathedral, and saw the Emerald, (or 
Glass Vase,) the Cross of Constantine, and the Marble Chest 
wherein, they say, are the ashes of St. John ; then to the 
Ducal Palace, and saw the MSS. of Columbus, so sacredly 
kept there, and took copies of his fine hand.* 

2Cth. — Took seat with a friend in the Courier for Milan, 
then saw the Martyre of Stephen in that Church, by Ra- 
phael and Giulio Romano, an exquisite picture. Home the 
rest of the day. 

* The following is a copy of one of these letters. I had but a few mo- 
ments to inspect them. To see these treasures, an application must be 



gOG niARY OF A TOUR IN F.UROPE. 



21st— Started in the Courier for Milan, at L3 M., riding 



made, a day or two previous, to the Cardinal legate or senator, who only 
have the keys to the gilded doors of their depository: 

" Alli molto nobili Signori 
" del molto magnifico uffieio 
" di S. Giorgio 

"a G-enova. 
"Al di dentro 

Molto nobili Signori. 
" Benchc il corpo cammini qua, il cuore sta li di continue Nostro s 
1 ■ noi c mi ha fatto la maggior che dopo David ahhia fatto a nessuno. L 
"cose dellamia impresa gia risplend6no, e piu risplenderehbero, se U 
"oscuritfi del Governo non lecoprisse. 
/ " Io tonn alle ludici, in nome della Santissima Trinita, per tornare 

/ " subito; e perch6, Io son mortale, lascio, a D. Diego, mio figlio, che di, 

" tutta la rendita vi corresponda corti, per il decimo del totale, di easa 
"ogni anno, per sempre, in sconto del prodotto del grano, e vino, e altre 
" vettovaglie commestibile. Se que to decimo sarf molto, recevetelo, esc 
" no, ricevete la volonta che io tengo. Vi prego, per grazia, che tenghi- 
" ate riccomandato questo mio Uglio, Messer Nicolo Od6rigo sa dei latti 
" miei piu che io stesso, e lai ho mandate la copia dei miei privilegii e 
"carte, perche li pongo in buona guardia, avrei piacere che li vedreste. 

"111;. ina, miei Signori, mi rogliono onora piu che mai. La 

" San. Trin. guardi le vostre nobili persone e accresca in molto magnifico 
" uffizio. 
" Fatto in Seviglia le "3 di Aprile 1503. 

" L'Ammiraglio Maggiore del Mare Oceano, e Vice Re, e Governatore 
"Generate delle [sole, e della Terra Ferma, del Asia, e delle Indie, del Re 
" e della Regina, miei Signori, e suo Capitano Generale del Mare, e del 
•' suo Consiglio. 

"S 

"S. A. S 

"X.M. V 

" Xpo FERENS. 

Translationof signature. 

" Supplex 

"Servus Altissimi Salvatoris 

" Xristi, Mariir, Josrphi, 

ChristO Ferens." 



DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPK. 207 



over the Appcriincs, with many glorious views of the blue 
Mediterranean Sea. It was extremely eoM ; rode all night. 

22o. — Arrived about 11 A. M. at the Hotel Grande Bre- 
tagne, and went to the Great Church ; and then to the shrine 
of St. Carlo Bovromeo ; evening at La Scala. The full com- 
pany was not there : but the instrumental and choral force, 
even with those singers, produced music worthy of this grand 
and magnificent house. 

2-jD. — Sunday, and very stormy : went to the Croat Church, 
then to the Brera, to admire the Rafaels' Marriage, the Gui- 
dos, the Dead Christ, so admirably foreshortened, then to the 
Arena, and the Triumphal Arch; then to see Da Vinci S Last 
Supper in the Cloisters of St. Maria defle Grazie ; then to 
the Church of St. Ambrogio, so ancient is its Court that in 
the time of the first Crusade, it was here where the Knights 
assembled to march forth to Palestine, and here is the Tomb of 
the Roman Pro-Consul, Stiliclio, and fine paintings in the 
Sacristy, and then to the Church of the Madonna della Vittoria; 
with a beautiful nave, with gold groinirigs, and medallion pic- 
tures. Evening at La Scala again, which in music and dec- 
orations far excels the San Carlo, of Naples. 

24th. — To the Duomo again ; went all over and about, 
and on the top up to the Great Lantern : it is all a miracle 
of beauty. One large statue on the roof always impr 
me; Adam leaning upon a spade upon the eve of starting upon 
life's struggle — serene solemn and spirit-strung — and next 
to him, but with averted face, Eve — full and beautiful : then 



208 DIARY OF A TOUR IN EUROPE. 

to the Ambrosian Library, and saw the Da Vinci sketches, 
and Bramantes, the Troubadours Songs, &c. in Ms., with 
notes, Petrarch's Virgil and notes in his own hand, the Monu- 
ment to Borromeo, descendant of the Saint, the Charity, the 
Relief by Thorwaldsen, his bust, and that of Canova ; the Gild- 
ed Bronze of the Aurora, the Graces and the Trajan's Column, 
then by rails to Mouza, a ride of half an hour to its Cathedral, 
whose exterior is like that of Pisa : saw the old Iron Crown, 
which was worn by Napoleon when he claimed to be the suc- 
cessor of Charlemange, Theolindas Crown, he, Missal, 
Fan, and Comb ; Silver Saints and wreaths of silver ; fine 
church with its rich stainings ; and then came back to 
Milan. 

25th. — All day at home, or in the Great church. Secret 
arrests were made during the night, and every time I went 
into the streets, I saw the gens d' armes escorting the arrest- 
ed on the charrette. The churches are all in mourning for 
the dead slain in last week's massacre. Every thing deserted 
and the gloomy streets are full of Austrian troops (2000), 
martial law having been proclaimed. 

26th. — At home all day. 

27th. — Returned by Diligence to Genoa. 

28th. — Arrived at a friend's house in Genoa, at 11 A. M. 
and spent the four following days there. 

29th.—. 

30th.—. 

31st. — News came to-day that the Sardinian army are 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 209 



marching to take position at Alexandria ; the march began 
at 8 A. M. to-day ; yesterday morning at 3. A. M., the 
King of Naples is said to have arrived here in a steamer, and 
left instantly en route and flight to Milan. 

Feb. 1st. — This last report is contradicted and changed 
to the first minister of Naples ; the news of the Revolution 
and Constitution at Naples makes a great emeute in the 
streets ; at 2 P. M. embarked on the Capri for Marseilles. 

2d. Arrived at 11 A. M. at the Hotel des Empereurs. 

3d. Fine day ; drove about the town to the beautiful 
cemetery, the Boulevard, the Monte Bonaparte, and along 
the Prado and the sea-shore ; and at 3 P. M. took seat in the 
coupe of Berlin Maitres de la poste for Lyons, riding all night 
and through beautiful landscapes in the day. 

4th. Arrived at 11 30 P. M., slept four hours. 

5th. At 5 A. M. en route again for Paris, making always 
three leagues the hour, or according to the new regulation, 
twelve Kilometres. 

6th. Do. day and night. 

7th. Arrived at the Hotel des Princes at 12 M., making 
eighty-three hours work, continuous riding. Received and 
wrote letters. 

8th. Home : wrote letters, and in the evening at the Ital- 
iens and heard Mario and Castellan in Lucia :~ the rest were 
very bad. 



9th. Letter writing. 
14 



210 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

10th. Left by Boulogne for London and arrived in the 
next day. 

12th. — Took passage for home in the steamer of the 26th 
inst., passed the interim, seeing a few friends, &c. 

27th. — Left Liverpool in steamer Cambria, for New York ; 
on the wharf, met my former travel-companion, Mr. de Nott- 
beck, who became a fellow passenger. 

Mar 18th. — After a rough passage, with constant gales, 
arrived HOME. 






SKETCHES 



AND 



Ktbittos. 



SKETCHES AID REVIEWS. 



From the Literary World, N. Y., of July 10, 1847. 



Edinburgh, May 9th, 1847. 
I arrived here on the 6th instant, by way of Durham, 
Morpeth, Alnwick, New Castle, and Berwick. The city of 
Durham, above all others in the north of England, abounds 
in interest ; both from its rare antiquity, its noble Castle 
and Cathedral, and its lovely situation. I spent a day there 
— and one, altogether the most pleasant since I left home. 
This city is, as you well know, the chief city of the pala- 
tinate of Durham. The county was, by William the Con- 
queror, erected into an independent principality or palatinate, 
and the Bishops of this See clothed with princely powers, 
for the purpose of protecting the borders from the incursions 
of the Scots. The Bishops were not only great ecclesiasti- 
cal princes, but renowned warriors, leading their hosts of 
mailed soldiers in most of the famous battles of the border 
wars. Though much of the ancient glory of the See has 
departed, still the Bishops hold their court, civil and eccle- 
siastical, their Chancellor sitting for them ; and among these 
Chancellors, along with other bright names, was Sir Samuel 
Romilly ; and the records of the Abbey and the Cathedral 
Church have, in consequence, been kept unbroken, and with 



214 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

the most remarkable minuteness, since its foundation. In- 
deed, in the ancient refectory in the cloisters, is the banquet 
library, and the richest in manuscripts of any Cathedral in 
England. Its history is too curious to be overlooked, and, 
although its present beauty needs no historic detail to en- 
hance its interest, you "will excuse me if I take a short 
sketch of its eventful story ; always premising that the 
facts stated are not traditionary, but are derived from origin- 
al and contemporaneous public records, faithfully and regu- 
larly kept under the sanctions of the ancient religion, which 
once flourished so magnificently here. The See of Durham 
was founded at Lindisfarne, now Holy Island, a few miles 
east, off this coast, by Oswald, the Saxon King of Northum- 
berland, as early as the year six hundred and thirty-five. 
Its earliest Bishop was Aidau, a monk of Iona, among whose 
successors, in the year six hundred and eighty-five, was 
Cuthbert, the Saint, about whose incorruptible remains so 
much was written and believed, and upon whose shrine, 
afterwards erected in the Church of Durham, so many and 
such costly offerings were made : and to which so many 
thousands annually went as pilgrims. I need not detail the 
old legend of how, ten years after his death, the monks at 
Lindisfarne, on opening his grave, found his body incorrupt 
and fresh, and, as they said, almost instinct with life ; how 
they then enshrined it near their high altar ; and when the 
Danes invaded England, how they fled with their sacred 
charge from Holy Island, and how the stone coffin of the 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 215 

saint, according to their legend, floated swiftly over the 
rivers, leaving the monks to trudge after it in wonder. 

Scott, in his Marmion, as you well recollect, has not for- 
gotten this strange legend of the Borders. 

"How. when the rude Danes bestrewed their pile, 
The monks fled forth from Holy Isle, 
O'er northern mountain, marsh and moor, 
From sea to sea, from shore to shore, 

Seven years St. Cuthbert's corpse they bore. 

* * * * * * 

In his stone coffin forth he rides 
(A ponderous bark for river tides,) 
Yet light as gossamer it glides, 
Downward to Tilnmouth cell." 

The monks thus wandered till they settled at Chester Le 
Street, where it remained some hundred years or more, and 
then to Kissou. A country distich well known here, yet 
speaks of the loss of Chester Le Street in the departure of 
the saint. 

" Durham lads hae gowd and silver. 
Chester lads hae nout but brass." 

The ruthless Danes again threatened the retirement of the 
monks ; and again they took up the coffin. It was then re- 
vealed to one of their number, in a vision, so runs the legend, 
that Durham should be its final resting place ; but the hap- 
less monks were ignorant where Durham lay. The legend, 
of course well vouched for, goes on to tell how their distress 
was at last relieved. Wandering with their charge to a field 
near by, they sat down in despair ; but a woman seeking for 






216 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

her cowcalled aloud to her companion to know if she had seen 
her ; who answered she was in Durham, or, as it was then call- 
ed, Dunholme. The grateful monks received this as a heavenly- 
direction, and following the woman and the cow, came here 
to Durham, the final resting place of their saint. On the 
front of the Cathedral, the " Durham Cow," carved in 
stone, still excites the curiosity of the legend-loving visitor. 
Of course, [so great a saint as Cuthbert was enshrined ; 
miracles were on all emergencies wrought by him ; his coffin 
taken up and carried in great processions ; his sacred ban- 
ner borne in many a bloody battle field of the Border wars, 
and the appearance of this renowned banner was always 
hailed by the English as the signal of victory over their 
Scottish foes. Behind the exquisite altar-screen, now in 
the Cathedral, which was finished in thirteen hundred and 
eighty, and principally the gift of the Nevilles, the Lords of 
Raby Castle, which is still existing some eighteen miles from 
here, under a large black marble slab, upon a circular stone 
elevation, now reposes this celebrated stone coffin of St. 
Cuthbert. All around the circular structure upon which it 
lies are the remains of the pillars, and other work of the 
shrine which once covered it. In eighteen hundred and 
twenty-seven this slab was removed in presence of the au- 
thorities of the Cathedral ; the ancient coffin found, and the 
vestments ; many of them of course much decayed, but 
owning to the embalming,"some were in tolerable preserva- 
tion ; the gold and silver work upon them was yet entire, 




SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 217 

and many relics of gold and silver were found together, and a 
skeleton corresponding exactly with a description of the 
saint, on record in eleven hundred and four. The sockets 
of the eyes were yet filled with a composition, which the 
monks, to keep up the imposition of his incorruptibility, in- 
troduced to produce the appearance of eye-balls, the faith- 
ful being permitted to look upon their saint only through a 
cere-cloth, which the monks never raised. These relics, and 
they certainly are curious, whether they belong to Cuth- 
bert or not, are under a glass case in the library. The 
monks of the abbey were of the order of St. Benedict. 
The bishops of this See played a distinguished part in the 
warfare of the Borders. Hugh Pudsey, who succeeded to 
the throne of this palatinate in eleven hundred and fifty- 
three, by whom the beautiful chapel of the Galilee, and many 
of the finest structures of the town were built, gained much 
distinction as a temporal prince, and is said to have furnish- 
ed two thousand pounds of silver towards the ransom of 
Cceur de Lion. A century after him, the history of the See 
became full of the achievements of Anthony Bek, who added 
to his episcopal and other dignities that of King of Jerusa- 
lem ; and having instigated Edward I. to his Scotch wars, 
led forth a numerous host in all the battles of the King 
against the Bruce and Sir William Wallace. It would ex- 
tend too far my sketch of Durham, and exhaust your atten- 
tion, to add the history of these and other renowned pre- 
lates, who made the early history of this palatinate so 



218 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

famous. It is, perhaps, of much more interest to us to 
know that Warburton, the author of the Divine Legation, 
and that Butler, the author of the celebrated Anology, have 
been among its modern bishops. Let us leave its history, 
which might easily fill a volume, and look at the church and 
town themselves as they appear now. 

The city of Durham is on the river Wear : a beautiful 
winding stream with its banks crossed by many pretty foot- 
paths, and overhung by fine old trees. It is crossed by 
three picturesque old bridges, Framwell Gate, St. Elvet, 
and the Prebend's Bridge. From the latter the Pre- 
bend's Bridge, which, although built many years since, 
is by several centuries more recent than the others, 
the finest view of the town and cathedral can be obtained. 
Standing upon the Prebend's Bridge, the river slopes to- 
wards you on your right, and far above you upon its lofty 
hill rise the fine Norman towers of the church, built of a 
fine drab colored free stone peculiar to this locality ; around 
it stand the cloisters and the buildings in the cathedral close 
with the Deanery, all of the same color and style of archi- 
tecture. 

Beyond it, on the same elevation, stand the massive keep 
and battlements of the castle, built by the Conqueror. It 
was, for many years after the dissolution of the monastery, 
used as the bishop's palace, and within a few years past Dur- 
ham University has been founded, and the warlike castle is 
now filled with students and tutors in Oxford cap and gown : 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 219 

its keep, over which the English flag is now flying, to show 
that it is now term time, has been converted into dormitories : 
its grand halls to lecture rooms ; and its fortified gate, look- 
ing strong enough, with moat and draw bridge, to bid defi- 
ance to the most powerful army, to the quiet residence of a 
janitor. 

Beyond the castle and cathedral lie the red-tiled roofs of 
the town. On the left bank of the river, stretch many beau- 
tiful walks among the green fields and the grassy banks of 
the Wear, but here and there lie clusters of the buildings of 
the town. The city is said to have a population of twenty- 
eight thousand, but it certainly requires strong faith to 
credit it, or to believe that any new houses have been built 
this century. You enter the cathedral by the north gateway 
of the cloisters near the Deanery, and, after walking under 
fine Norman arches of black oak, ornamented with the es- 
cutcheons of the benefactors and bishops of the See, through 
two sides of the quadrangle, you enter the transept door. 
A fine rose window of stained glass is over the door, and 
also a large and curious clock, erected by Bishop Cosin, in 
the days of Charles II. The great pillars and arches here 
strike you at once as Norman. On the left, at the corner of 
the nave, is a full length statue of Bishop Barrington, kneel- 
ing in his robes ; the work of Chantrey, and I need not say 
exquisitely executed. It was service time when I entered, 
service being performed here daily during the week from 10 
to 11 A. M. The choristers in their surplices were coming 



220 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

in ; the vicars choral and the readers were going to then- 
seats ; the verger conducted me to a scat in one of the sump- 
tuous canon stalls, which are hung with canopies of carved 
oak, erected in the reign of Charles II., and of course prodi- 
gal in ornament. The service was well read ; the music, in- 
cluding an anthem, was exquisitely sung by the choir of 
twenty -four, composed of twelve singing boys and as many 
vicars. The music was not accompanied by an organ, the 
fine old organ of the cathedral having been, within a few 
weeks past at the taking down of the choir screen, removed 
to the left side of the choir beyond the pulpit, where new 
pipes are being added, and the whole framework repaired. 
The pavement of the choir is of tesselatecl marble, mostly 
cruciform in shape. The canopies of the stalls rest against 
immense Norman pillars, springing into massive arches at a 
great height above you. Near the capitals of these pillars 
are images of St. Cuthbert and other bishops, with nume- 
rous escutcheons. The ceiling of the choir is of stone work, 
richly groined ; and the stone of the whole interior of the 
church is of a light lively color, approaching nearly to the 
color of light red sandstone. On the left of the choir, op- 
posite the pulpit, stands the bishop's throne : it is approach 
ed by a side staircase, and is erected over the magnificent 
monument of Bishop Hatfield, who lies here in a life-size 
effigy of alabaster, in full pontifical robes, finely wrought, 
stretched upon a high altar tomb, under an ornamented 
canopy, wnich, together with the tomb, is covered with 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 221 

_ C 

shields of arms, once resplendent in gold, blue, and Vermil- 
lion hues, which the changes of time have not yet entirely 
effaced. Beyond this is the exquisite Gothic altar screen, 
of the same colored stone : the donation of the Nevilles, 
whose niches were once crowded with statues of saints, but 
were destroyed and left desolate by the zeal of the Scottish 
prisoners, who were confined here after the battle of Dun- 
bar. It has been cleaned ; its broken arches restored, and 
is now, without question, the finest altar screen in this coun- 
try. 

Behind lies the famous black slab, the seat of the famous 

shrine ; and beyond, forming the east end of the church, 
once stood the Chapel of the Nine Altars, as it was called. 
You can yet see the slabs of some of these altars, and the 
almonries for the monks' vestments. The great windows 
here, with their immense arches, are most superb. The 
east window lighting the choir is filled with stained glass ; 
the others are plain, but the architecture is the most imposing 
of any I have yet seen. In this chapel, which is now sup- 
plied with a reading desk, and seated, are several good 
monuments. The aisles of the choir have also some fine 
monuments. The nave, as you enter it from the choir, is 
certainly one of the grandest in England ; its fine effect is 
not produced by its size, for it is not as large as York, which 
is much inferior in general effect, nor from its sculpture or 
monuments, but arises mainly from the vastness of propor- 
tion in these great Norman pillars, and the simple grandeur 



222 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

a 

of the fine groined arches. Its pavement is like the choir : 
near the great west door is the boundary line in black marble, 
marked, as tradition says, by Cuthbert as the limit over 
which females should not tread. The aisles of this nave 
were once filled with chapels and chantries for the souls of* 
deceased benefactors and great feudal lords of the vicinity, 
and there are many traces of these chapels still left in the 
pictured story of the stained glass windows, of which time 
has left some remnant, and the still existing colors in the 
stones, showing old frescoes. Near the south side doorway 
was the ancient sanctuary : the ancient door is still there. 
The huge griffen-headed knocker, at which the culprit 
knocked, still hangs there ; and the monks, who watched 
day and night in the room above, would descend and admit 
the culprit to the shrine ; and after confessing his crime 
fully, which was reduced to writing in the presence of wit- 
nesses, a bell ringing the whole time, there was put upon 
him a black gown, with a yellow cross upon the left shoulder, 
as the badge of St. Cuthbert. After the lapse of thirty- 
seven days, if no pardon were obtained, the criminal, in cer- 
tain ceremonies before the shrine, abjured his native land, 
and bearing in his hand a white wooden cross, was sent out 
of the kingdom by the nearest port. The records of the 
church are full of such confessions, and of course of instances 
of the observance of this ^curious custom. The sanctuary 
has been taken down, but its place has not been supplied, so 
that you readily see its former location. Against the western 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 223 

front of this church stands a rare relic of antiquity of the 
days of Cceur de Lion, the Chapel of the Galilee ; as you 
descend into it, under a fine Norman arch, with zigzag orna- 
ment, once brilliantly painted like the the tomb of Bishop 
Hatfield in the choir, at the capitals of the pillars rise the 
statues of King Richard and of Bishop Pudsey, its founder. 
On your right is the massive altar tomb of the Venerable 
Bede, with the simple inscription, 

"Hac sua in fossa, Venerabilis Baedse ossa." 

This tomb is of modern granite ; its ancient tomb was defac- 
ed during the Reformation. The bill for its demolition, as 
rendered at the time, now hangs in a frame in the library. 

Even this inscription has its legend attached. A monk 
writing Latin Leonines, having got together the rhymes of 
" fossa" and " ossa," was in great despair to know how to 
supply the penultimate word. After numerous trials, his 
patience was exhausted and he fell asleep ; whilst he slept, 
an angel descended, and filled in the word u venerabilis." 
The rejoicing monk, immediately on its discovery, inscribed 
it upon the tomb. Beyond this, over an altar tomb of 
Bishop Langley, for a long time was held the Consistory 
Court .in a deep recess, still richly painted in fresco, over 
which a suitable inscription still remains. The ceiling of 
the Galilee, which is of stone, is supported by numerous 
arches of Norman style, but with the zigzag ornament, once 
finely painted, of which many traces still remain, and each 
arch supported by a slight pillar of stone, of a single shaft ; 



224 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

the general effect is very curious. No imagination is neces- 
sary to fill this curious old chapel with the rude warriors of 
the days of Richard, to see revived the ancient altars, the 
stoled monks, the incense and the chant of the grand service 
of the ancient religion. The Galilee has not long since been 
fitted up with pews, etc., for Sunday evening service in 
summer. 

On leaving the Galilee, I ascended by many a weary step, 
the great central, or lantern tower, of the cathedral. From 
the river, it is two hundred and fifty feet, and some one 
hundred feet higher than the two western towers. Its top 
is about forty feet square. The day was remarkably fine, 
and the view was superb. The picturesque old town was at 
my feet, standing on a neck of land left by the impetuous 
Wear in its winding course, which here sweeps around, so as 
almost to leave the city on an island. Far off, over fine 
rolling hills, and many sweet valleys, far as the eye could 
reach, spread the lands of the Dean and Chapter. The 
hedgerows, which are here universal, were smiling, in the 
verdure of early spring. Rail trains were flying along in the 
extreme distance, here and there a colliery, and everywhere 
grand vistas through the fine hills and woodlands. On my 
descent, I paused half-way in the gallery, which was around 
the interior of the tower, and here the view of the grand 
church is inexpressibly fine. Before you, is the choir, and 
at this moment a verger in his robes, was standing at the 
altar ; he filled the picture, and the eye resting on his figure 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 225 

as a point de vue, wandered on down^ the grand nave, and 
then right and left through the massive transepts. Some 
canons crossed the pavement, their figures appeared small in 
the distance, and I grew dizzy with the view. 

Leaving the church, I went around the cloisters into the 
ancient refectory, now the library. Its interior is not much 
changed — the books are in alcoves, some eight thousand in 
number. Here also, are many fine manuscripts, richly illu- 
minated, as early as the venerable Bede and Bishop Puclsey, 
upon good authority, as is said, Mr. Raines, the librarian, is 
very attentive : and I took clown there, many volumes richly 
bound, some in vellum, others in heavy boards, in their 
original style, and turned over their superbly ornamented 
black letter pages with delight. Many of the initials covered 
one-half the page, in finely executed figures in gold and 
ultramarine, fresh as of yesterday, reminding you of the 
mosaics of Pompeii, by their beautiful finish and preserva- 
tion. Here are several hundred such illuminations. The 
MSS. consist mostly of commentaries and other theological 
works ; this library is the treasure house of the cathedral's 
history and antiquities, although the records of the consis- 
torial courts are kept elsewhere. Here is the bill for the 
demolition of St. Cuthbert's shrine tempore Henry VIII. ; 
also for the restoration of the altar-tomb of Bede. Some 
curious paintings of the early bishops, a good one of Bishop 
Butler, and many Roman and Saxon relics dug up in the 
vicinity. In a glass case hangs the rich and rare crosses, 

15 



226 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

host canopies, and vestments, embroidered in gold and silver 
upon white satin, once worn by the monks, taken from an 
immense oak and iron-ribbed chest lying here ; these robes 
were worn by the monks and priors, and some of them by all 
the protestant bishops, down to the time of Warburton, 
who was the first to throw off these relics of the ancient wor- 
ship. A finely executed engraving, recently published here, 
shows the nave aisles, with a torchlight procession of the 
Prior and and the Monks clothed in their robes, accurately 
copied, bearing the banner and the tomb of Cuthbert, pro- 
ceeding from the Galilee up to the choir. Leaving this rare 
library, which would delightedly occupy a literary man for 
months, nay years, I went down into the cloisters again, 
passing the old lavatory into the deanery ; this is a rare 
building, and kept in fine order, and owing to the refined 
taste of the present dean, Dr. Warrington, it is unaltered. 
The entrance room is a grand baronial hall, sides and ceiling 
of rich carved black oak, with many fine pendants, and lit 
by a superb stained glass window in the front. Here is an 
exquisite antique mantel and fire-place, and a rare cabinet ; 
the style of the whole is florid in ornament, of the era of 
Charles II. A grand suite of rooms follows, which you enter 
through richly carved doorways, but the furniture is modern. 
Descending hence, through many winding stone staircases, 
you enter the strange old octagonal kitchen, certainly one of 
the greatest curiosites here. It is the si'me ancient kitchen 
used of old, some eighty feet high to the top light ; its arches 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 227 

spring like branches of trees intertwining in beautiful shapes, 
and its roof, as I viewed it from the lantern tower, seemed 
like a concentric group of stone-ribbed arches. This fine 
old roof is often quoted as one of the greatest architectural 
antiquities of Great Britain, and it suggested to the cele- 
brated architect, Sir James Hall, his fine idea, which he 
beautifully elaborated in many learned treatises and fine en- 
gravings, that the arch, as a form of architecture, in all its 
varied specimens, was suggested to the mind by the beautiful 
shapes taken by the branches of trees. Before the ancient 
fire-place, in which a bright fire was burning, the turnspit 
was still moving, the cooks were busy at their duties at the 
table in the centre ; around the centre room, are ranges of 
ovens of immense size, once used by the monks who cooked 
their own viands ; near there were almonries ; beneath the 
windows are apertures in the wall made to distribute food to 
the poor. The whole establishment is still busy with life, 
every portion used, and kept in the neatest order. They 
have been digging lately in the Deanery, for the purpose of 
building an ice-house, and to their great surprise they struck 
upon a stone door, which after much labor, being opened, led 
to a winding passage, in the heart of an immensely thick 
stone wall ; following this passage, it opened, eventually, 
through a similar stone door, into a very fine large crypt of 
stone, with Norman arches. The excavations were only 
commenced last summer, and have not yet been completed, 
and it appeared to me, as I stood within the crypt, that they 



228 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

had not yet got down to the ancient pavement, although they 
have cleaned it out to the depth of some eight feet throughout. 
Leaving the Deanery hy the garden, I crossed the cathe- 
dral close to the castle, now the college of Durham. It is a 
castle built by the Conqueror ; its massive portal, great keep 
and towers, closely resemble Alnwick castle, although the 
extent of the building is not near as large. A convocation 
of the Chapter had been called to meet in the hall of the 
college about the time I entered, which was 2, P. M., and 
the canons in their robes were hastening up the great stone 
stairway of the grand entrance ; I was thus prevented from 
seeing the fine college halls, but, however, was very politely 
conducted through some of its fine rooms. I went into the 
dining hall, wainscoted and roofed in black oak of the era, 
One might almost believe, of the Conqueror himself. Here 
are some fine portraits of the bishops, deans, and canons, 
and one particularly struck my attention, that of Dr. Wel- 
lesley, the brother of the Duke of Wellington, who holds a 
canon stall here. Take off the clerical dress, and it would 
be a perfect likeness of the Duke. I went up the grand 
Oak staircase built by Bishop Cosin, tempore Charles II., 
covered with ornamental carving, till I reached the magnifi- 
cently decorated Norman doorway, which leads to the col- 
lege rooms. Since visiting Durham, I have seen many of 
the finest castles and cathedrals of the proud old days of 
England, but no doorway, save those of rare and exquisite 
Melrose Abbey can approach it. I looked through the 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 



229 



curious old rooms where the bishops and the judges on their 
circuit are lodged, full of rare antique furniture. The bell, 
for the luncheon of the students, was ringing, and the con- 
vocation was assembling in the hall, and though reluctantly, 
I was obliged to leave this grand old castle, and return, de- 
lighted, though much wearied with my day's ramble, to my 
inn. 

R. D. 



From the Literary World, New York, October 16th, 1847. 

A VISIT TO MARTIN FARQUHAR TUPPER. 

June 19, 1847. 

A few days since, having received a long and cordial invi- 
tation from Mr. Tupper to come down from London, and 
spend a day with him, at his seat in the Vale of Albury, near 
the Town of Guilford, County of Surrey, I took an early 
train this morning, from the Nine Elms station, at Vauxhall 
Bridge, for Guilford. It was a lovely ride of some two hours ; 
through a country cultured like a garden, and rich with the 
promise of a full harvest. Mr. Tupper's house was about 
four miles of carriage drive from the Guilford Station. His 
invitation had fully detailed the time and manner of travel 
down from town ; and also sketched a programme for the oc- 
cupation of the day, which we abundantly fulfilled. 

His seat is just out of the village of Albury. It is a 
house somewhat in the style of the reign of Charles I. ; and 






230 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

indeed one portion of it in the interior is but little changed. 
With its heavy black-oak staircase — its small and loophole- 
like chambers, and narrow lancet-gothic windows, it needs 
but little to imagine yourself in some stronghold of the past 
ages. The house stands in the lap of a sweet valley, sur- 
rounded on all sides by fine rolling hills ; it is quite large, 
with a circular little park in front, in which there were some 
Lebanon cedars, Spanish oaks, and fine yews. Its entrance 
is a gothic portal on the south side, and along this front plant- 
ed arbor- wise, were twined many beautiful climbing roses. I 
sent in my card ; and was ushered into the drawing-room, a 
large and elegant room at the west end of the house, with 
French casement windows. On either side of the door are 
two large carved ebony cabinets, richly inlaid with medallions ; 
above the mantel is a superb Guido, representing a life-size 
of Diana, rising with her crown in her hand, above the rolling 
world ; opposite are some fine things by Teniers and Vandyck, 
and the remaining space on the sides of the room is well cov- 
ered with the masters : and between the two further windows, 
on a composite revolving pedestal is an excellent life-size 
statue of ' The Girl tying her Sandal,' the chef d'ceuvre of 
Rudolph Schadow. The furniture in the room was of course 
in good taste. I waited a moment ; and soon Mr. Tupper 
came in with a joyous welcome. He is short in person, and 
his countenance is a striking portrait of our own Washington 
Irving. He is young — just 36 ; and after graduating at Ox- 
ford, inheriting a considerable estate, and being anxious to 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 231 

marry (for his affections had been enthralled quite early in 
life,) his father decided that, before marriage, he should adopt 
some profession. In compliance with his father's wishes, he, 
as it is styled, " ate" through his terms at Lincoln's Inn, 
was called to the Bar in due time, married, and settled in 
this delightful spot. We talked a while together about 
America and her authors ; and he said that his reading had 
been lately turned towards America, from the favor where- 
with they had received his writings, adding that he looked on 
every American as at least his cousin by a common descent 
from the same old English stock. He talked on delightedly 
and with deep and unrestrained feeling about our Longfellow, 
Bryant, Irving, Willis, and others; praised Edgar Poe's 
tales, and a poem by Cornelius Matthews ; flying about like 
one unaccustomed to discipline the energies of a full mind, he 
read to me almost in the same breath, the two following po- 
ems about Ascot, written in the circumstances he describes, 
upon the Queen's Day, June 3d, 1847, when John Day, the 
owner of the Horse, Hero, won the racing prize, the annual 
Vase presented by the Emperor of Russia. I should add too, 
for the benefit of the New Yorkers who may not be as inti- 
mately acquainted with the localities, that Ascot is about 
thirty odd miles from Albury, over a fine road, which Mr. 
Tupper, of course, performed in the English fashion, on the 
back of his own pony. 



232 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

GOING TO ASCOT. 

Written in the saddle, on the crown of my hat, June 3, 1847. 

:( At five in the dewy morning, 

Before the blaze of day, 
To be up and off, on a high mettled horse, 

Over the hills away; 
To drink the rich sweet breath of the gorse, 

And balhe in the breeze of the downs — 
Ha, man ! if you can, match bliss like this 

In all the joys of towns. 

With glad and grateful tongue to join 

The lark in his matin hymn; 
And thence, on faith's ocean wing, to spring, 

And sing with cherubim ! 
To pray from the deep and tender heart 

With all things j.raying anew — 
The birds, and the bees, and the whispering trees, 

And heather, be-dropped with dew; — 
To be one with those early worshippers, 

And pour the paean, too ! 

Then off again, with a slackened rein 
And a bounding heart within, 

To dash at a gallop, over the plains 
Health's golden cup to win ! 

This, this is the race, for gain and grace 
And you that boast your pleasures the most, 

Among the steam of towns, 
Come, taste true bliss, in a morning like this, 

Galloping over the Downs !" 



ASCOT; June 3, 1847. 

Veritably written on the back of my racing card. 

" Modern Olympia shorn of all their pride— 
The patriot spirit, and unlucred praise — 

Thou art a type of these degenerate days, 
Where love of simple honor all hath died; 
Oh, du*ty, gay, and eager multitude. 

Agape for gold. No! do not thus condemn: 
For hundreds here are innocent and good, 
And young, and fair, among — but not of them; 

And hundreds more enjoy with gratitude 

This well-earned holiday, so bright and green ; 

Do not condemn ! it is a stirring scene, 
Though vanity and folly fill it up ; 

Look how the mettled races please the Queen ! 
Ha, brave John Day — a Hero wins the cup." 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 233 

I have inserted these little gems, although mere impromp- 
tus, and, perhaps, far unequal to his greater efforts in his 
Geraldine, his Thousand Lines, and his recent glorious Ode 
on Waterloo ; because they have never been published in 
America, and because the sonnet gives a faithful and striking 
picture of the Queen's Day at Ascot, which I had the pleas- 
ure of witnessing myself. A race in England, and particu- 
larly at Ascot, on the Vase-day, when the Queen attends, is 
not the resort only of the jockey and the gambler, but you 
will see the superb Grand Stand crowded with refined ladies 
of the aristocracy ; and the interest of the scene is far more 
in the brilliant assemblage, than in the running of the hor- 
ses. 

To return to my host, Mr. Tupper : I was soon introduced 
to Mrs. T., who certainly is a wife every way worthy of him, 
and of those beautiful verses recently written by him and 
published in the Literary World, wherein he has enshrined 
her, I might almost say, in an affectionate immortality. I 
had brought down with me from London a series of the Liter- 
ary World which I had just received, containing these lines ; 
and as Mr. T., in looking with delighted interest through 
every page, came to these lines, he commenced reading them 
aloud, but had scarcely got beyond one verse before his eyes 
were filled with tears, and his voice choked with emotion, and 
he was obliged to stop. Wiping away the natural tear, he 
tried to explain to me that he was doubly touched both with 
the feeling expressed in those sweet lines (or feeble verses as 






234 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

he called them), and also with the compliment of seeing them 
so much thought of, as to be found, unexpectedly to himself, 
in the columns of an able American Review. These verses 
open as with a sungleam the domestic bliss of the Family of 
Albury, and show those strong, natural and hearth-side affec- 
tions, which bind this happy circle of his six charming child- 
ren, his dear wife and himself, so tenderly together. The 
man who could write such verses must needs be full of the 
best feelings of our nature ; and certainly it has never been 
my lot to be the guest of a family, where every household af- 
fection was stronger or purer than at Albury. Mr. Tupper 
went on talking unrestrainedly and with much feeling and 
power about men and books, and how happily he lived here : 
he also spoke with much interest of America, and carefully 
inquired after his American correspondents and unseen friends, 
amongst others, Longfellow, a beautiful copy of whose poems 
lay on the centre-table before us. 

Lunch was now ready ; we went through a hall, hung 
around with ancestral portraits in stiff old Elizabethan ruffs 
and rapiers, to the dining-room, at the other end of the house. 
This room, like the rest, is filled with the works of the mas- 
ters ; at the left corner of the further end are four very an- 
cient and curious paintings upon marble, by an artist of the 
15th century, who took the name of Tempesta, as a nom de 
guerre. He was a Cuyp in his time. The figures of animals 
are admirably done. Two of them represent the Drowning 
of Pharaoh in the Red Sea, wherein the artist has left the 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 235 



veins of the marble exposed to show the literal red waves. 
We sat down together to a hearty lunch, seasoned by Tap- 
per's fine way of talk and thought ; and afterwards started 
on a country ramble, the day being superb. We walked 
together, in earnest, happy conversation over hill and dale, 
stopping often to look at the noble prospect of the swelling 
hills around, and the fine farming valleys ; the scenery in 
many respects resembling that of Derbyshire. He pointed 
out a corner of a distant field as being evidently the seat of 
a Roman Castrum, where he had recently found numerous 
Roman coins and stamped tiles, which he afterwards showed 
me in his cabinet. On our return, we met his happy child- 
ren on the green — his Selwyn, his Ellyn, Mary, and the rest, 
indeed, six in all. And soon after went up stairs together 
to prepare for dinner. He showed me the gold medal just 
given him by the King of Prussia, for his Proverbial Philoso- 
phy; and also a small snuffbox, made from the oak of Washing- 
ton's coffin, not long since received by him from Boston, with a 
sonnet by Almanzor W. Boynton. He prized it highly, not on- 
ly as a memorial of real greatness, but as a delicate compliment 
from an unseen friend afar off. A neighbor, who had been 
in America, had been invited to meet me at dinner. Our 
walk had given us an appetite, and we sat down to a capital 
dinner, and talked delightedly for three or four hours, about 
books and men, the notables of America, and its future glo- 
ries ; indeed, it seemed we should never finish. He presented 
me with a copy of his Thousand Lines, and a well-engraved 



236 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

portrait. Presently the pony chaise was brought up, 
and we mounted, parting, like friends of long years, with 
the happy household, for a circuitous ride through the best 
portions of Surrey down to Guilford. Mr. Tupper drove me 
first along an elevated road, commanding extensive prospects 
of a rich country, and then over the sward into a Druidical 
circle ; here were huge yew trees, over thirty feet in girth ; 
the sacred tree of the Druids ; planted in an exact circle, 
surrounding, doubtless, in old times, the altar mound for their 
sacrifices. We alighted and measured one, which was very 
curious, as at its foot, from eighteen feet high, without any 
apparently separate root, a bright-leaved tree had grown 
thriftily upon it; whilst the top was dark with the new foliage. 
A little further on in the distance is the picturesque ruin of 
St. Martha's, a church said to be of the era of Alfred, now 
about to be restored ; and, rising a hill, a long way off, a view 
of nearly forty miles in extent, we saw the grand towers of 
Windsor Castle, and the long, smoky outline of distant Lon- 
don. We soon reached Guilford. The town is indeed a relic 
of old days, with the same quaint air as York. Its curious 
old castle on the hill was mentioned in King Alfred's testa- 
ment, and it is still kept in repair, although put to other uses. 
There are several exceedingly curious and ancient Saxon and 
Norman churches here ; and driving down the main street, I 
alighted a moment, and looked into the hospital founded here, 
1616, for the support of a Master and twelve poor brethren 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 237 



by Archbishop Abbot. It is a plain quadrangle, of brick ; 
and there are some fine stainings in its little chapel ; and, 
like those many other charitable foundations, which are proud 
monuments for England, and make one man's memory a 
blessing to all future times, is still maintained with scrupulous 
conformity to the will of the founder. 

In a few moments we were at the railroad station, and with 
many warm wishes and kind counsels we parted, and in an 
hour or two the rails brought me back to town. By the next 
day's post I enclosed to him the following lines, which, though 
greatly unworthy, were honored by Mr. Tupper with, what 
seemed to me, unexpected praise. 

TO MARTEN F. TUPPER. 

Friend of the thoughtful brow, and meek, full eye, 

A thousand blessings from my heart on thee ! 
Thy words of truth are garnered from on High, 

And uttered from a spirit warm and free. 
An humble pilgrim, from a foreign land, 

With reverence to thee, as a sage, I came, 
But as a friend ! — with open heart and hand, 

I was received, although unknown to fame. 
In that sweet vale ! thine own dear nook of peace, 

The centre of thy soul's refined joys, 
Far from the city's turmoil, and at ease, 

Thy heart entwines its deathless memories. 
Where'er upon the earth I wander hence, 

To sacred Albury shall my vision turn, 
A spot irradiate by Truth, strong sense, 

Heart-springing Thoughts — and words that burn. 

I have thus given an imperfect, but detailed record of a 
well-spent day. Its memory will always be bright and fresh 
with me. My apology, if in truth I need any, is the belief 



233 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

that a knowledge of the daily life of a man of genius must 
always be of interest to those who sympathize with and ad- 
mire the productions of his mind ; and particularly so to his 
numerous American readers, who cannot expect to know him 
personally. 

R. D. 



From the Literary World, New Yerk, January 15, 1848. 

ST. GEORGE'S CHAPEL— WINDSOR CASTLE. 

This is perhaps one of the finest creations in the Church 
Architecture of glorious old England. It has been recently 
beautified and restored, and although everybody visits Wind- 
sor, a sketch of its magnificence and taste has not yet, as I 
believe, found its way to transatlantic readers. It is of 
course dedicated to the Order of the Garter, and its modern 
restoration, as exhibiting a refined taste, makes it beyond 
comparison the most superb chapel in the kingdom. In size 
it does not vary much from Grace Church at New York ; but 
its nave is free from pews, and its choir is full of richly carved 
black oak stalls, those rare ornaments of English Cathedrals ; 
and independent of its sculptures and paintings, its fine pro- 
portions would alone make it a model of the beautiful pointed 
Gothic style. The roof is richly groined, on a blue ground, 
adorned with pendants bearing the royal insignia : the fleur de 
lis, the Tudor portcullis, the famed Roses, the star and em- 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 239 



blems of the Garter, with many escutcheons, all in gold, in va- 
ried and beautiful colored emblazon. 

The great west window has been cleaned, and you now see, 
in their perfection, the ancient and beautiful colored glass 
with the multitude of the Knights of the Order, in their full 
and rich panoply. On the right hand of the west entrance is 
the exquisite Beaufort Chapel, a niched recess formed under 
one of the aisle arches, and separated from the [ nave by a 
finely wrought and gilt fleur de lis railing. Its roof is groin- 
ed and ornamented as the nave with gold insignia and family 
escutcheons. Two long, rich and lofty windows light the in- 
terior, which has several fine statues and effigies of the fami- 
ly. Their banners hang over the walls, and at the corner 
near the font, stands a well sculptured reading desk or rather 
"prie seul." Opposite, in a somewhat larger recess, barred 
by a similar railing,, under a beautiful semispherical ceiling, 
richly groined like the nave roof, and lighted by superb lan- 
cet windows, one on either side of topaz and amethyst hues, is 
the tomb of the Princess Charlotte. Her history, which is 
too well known to be repeated, is enough to make her last 
resting-place famous. In the back ground, the disparted cur- 
tains of the tomb, so broad and richly folded, that it needs re- 
flection to believe them marble, show the archway from which 
the lifesize figure of the Princess is rising. Her shroud is 
thrown back in graceful folds : transport is on her face ; her 
right hand points upwards, the left extended behind, as if 
about taking flight from poor mortality. Indeed the whole 



240 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 



figure is instinct with the vigor of the New Life. On each 
side of the figure of the Princess, is a kneeling angel looking 
up to her in deep interest. At her foot lies her enshrouded 
mortal body, over which, in the foreground, two mourning fig- 
ures are weeping. Although they are likewise completely 
enshrouded, their position and sculpture are perfect in ex- 
pression. The serene bliss in the countenance of the Prin- 
cess, the affectionate welcome of the angels, contrasted with 
the poor remnants of mortality, make that breathing marble 
a beautiful embodiment of the Christian's trust of immortal- 
ity. The whole group is of the life size, and the work of Sir 
James Wyatt. Some may find fault with these fine sculp- 
tures, and argue that if the design is the ascension of a dis- 
embodied spirit, its plastic representation is impossible ; but 
on such a theory, the ordinary figure of an angel is equally 
inconsistent ; or it might be further argued that if the sculp- 
tor's purpose was to present the resurrection, the mortal ac- 
cessories might be rather an anachronism; however such 
speculations will not disturb the mind when in the presence of 
the creation of the sculptor. 

But leaving these funereal chapels, walk up the nave itself, 
under its great arches, so rich in gold and blazonry, and so 
rarely proportioned, lighted by the over crossed and mingled 
reflection of those superb stained windows, does it not bring 
back on the mind that glorious chapel in the undying story of 
St. Agnes Eve ? Before you is the choir screen of rare and 
delicate iron work, supporting the organ and its gallery, a for- 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 241 

est of carving in black oak : and then the choir itself ! All 
around are the carved and canopied stalls of the knights of 
the order, from the sovereigns down ; over each are hung the 
crown or coronet, the helm or hauberk and the banner of the 
occupant, the banners bearing many names which have filled 
a large field in England's story. In the central aisle is the 
royal vault, where the worms mock at the majesty of anointed 
kings. Over the altar table is West's famed painting of the 
Last Supper, and behind this, the great East Window, in sol- 
emn full tints, presents the Transfiguration. Above the al- 
tar table, on the left wall of the choir, are two closets screen- 
ed and windowed, one in similar black oak carving, the other 
intended for the Queen and her attendants. The roof of the 
choir is in the same style of ornament as the nave, its win- 
dows are finely stained after the antique, and there are side 
aisle chapels, containing some fine monuments. In the right 
hand aisle, at the south corner of the altar screen, is a res- 
toration of antiquity, well executed, and, perhaps, not out of 
taste. A folio black letter Bible is chained in a niche, un- 
derneath is the inscription, in the same old character, that 
" the Bishop of Shrewsbury placed this bible here for godly 
meditation, and whoever shall read it aright shall have forty 
days' pardon therefor !" and further down in the same aisle, 
protected by a glass screen, are some curious paintings of 
the era of Henry VIII, representing the meeting at the Field 
of the Cloth of Gold. Whilst I was in the chapel, the or- 
gan, which is esteemed as one of the best in England, com- 



242 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

menced playing, and the finely trained choir sang the anthem, 
" O, go your way into his gates with thanksgiving, and into 
his courts with praise !" They were practising for the even- 
ing service, and their united harmonies accorded well with 
the pomp and beauty of the building. 

Westminster Abbey, so full as it is of the best efforts of 
the chisel, and the best memories "of the histories of the land, 
is, in its architectural ornaments, the faded model of this 
chapel, and whoever is fond of the grand proportions, the 
long drawn aisles, and the once rich ornaments of the old 
Abbey, will find his taste highly gratified in this modern res- 
toration of the splendor of the feudal style. 

R. D. 



From the Literary World, New York, January S2, 1848. 



NUREMBERGH. 



To any one wearied of the Frenchified monotony which 
pervades all other large Continental cities, and who admires 
the relics of the Old Age, quaint, quiet, old fashioned Nu- 
rembergh, will pleasantly detain him for many days. Every 
street there is a picture : they run in all imaginable angles 
and directions, apparently innocent of plan, in the fashion of 
a Chinese puzzle ; and the lofty brown stone houses, carved 
up to their peaked roof, often with finely executed reliefs, 
sometimes covered with armorial bearings, surmounted with 
strange crests, such as Moors' heads, to show how the an- 
cestor of that ancient burgher family fought under the 
Catholic Isabella, against the Infidel Moors; with richly 
carved balconies in front, form a fine study for the lover of 
the picturesque. And then, at every corner and platz is a 
fountain, generally of quaint device ; as, for instance, the 
laughing "peasant, with a goose under either arm, spouting 
water from their mouths as he squeezes them ; the " Schone 
Brunnen," or the beautiful fountain, full of fine stone statu- 
ettes, and many others. Indeed, as I frequently walked 
about its old streets, every one forming so rare a scene of 
prim antiquity, and now so empty and still : with those old 



244 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

scenes of war and chivalry yet living everywhere about me 
in the stone carvings ; the innumerable peaked gables, 
church spires, old towers, old market-places, and those 
curious fountains ; I could not fail of being reminded of the 
Illuminated Romances of the Middle Ages, where the skill 
and fancy of the Monkish Artist so often ran riot in the pic- 
tured story of the Illuminated Margin. Generally, these 
fine old houses may be considered several large dwellings 
under one roof. Around the central open court, which is 
generally very large, the covered corridor opens into nume- 
rous apartments, often vast and gloomy enough ; and every- 
where about are curiously carved, useless, crooked stairways, 
and passages that lead nowhere, and massive oak ceilings alike 
covered with carving, and oak furniture and huge rooms, and 
queer corners, like rabbit warrens, and every spare inch of 
surface covered with quaint and often beautiful carved de- 
vices. But they are, indeed, palatial in their extent and 
ornament : and present as refreshing a contrast to the mo- 
dern priggish monotony of a three or four story in New 
York or elsewhere, as the apparition of a gentleman of the 
old school attired in full dress of lace point, collar, ruffles, 
velvets, and bracelets, to the present tight-fitting costume 
imposed on all alike by the decrees of tailors and fashion of 
our times. In many instances, these old houses are occupied 
yet by the descendants of the same families who have lived 
here uninterruptedly since the days of the Crusades. Visit- 
ing one of them, in the Albrecht Durer Platz, still occupied 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 215 

by the same family, whose ancestors are recorded among the 
burgher aristocracy in the fourteenth century, who possess 
an exquisite portrait by Durer of one of them, I turned over 
with much interest, theirfamilj record; amammoth v 
superbly bound with gold and velvet, preserved in its richly 
carved old wooden case, containing the arms and history of 
the family from the days of the Crusades, through the wars 
of Granada, with portraits of many notables in the early 
ages of the family, and pictures of the scenes of those 
chivalrous achievements, whereby they won many a rich and 
strange crest and quartering to their coat of arms. The 
paintings were admirably executed upon the vellum leaf, and 
the book, though now merely the record of a private family 
here, would furnish, no doubt, many an interesting episode 
to the history of Modern Europe. 

The princes of Nurembcrgh were a burgher aristocracy ; 
in their origin ; wealthy merchants, who, either for a timely 
loan, or for some equally important ministry to the neces- 
sities of the great lord or neighboring kings, were raised to 
the rank of the noblesse ; and the chronicles of the city are 
filled with records of numerous charters of freedoms and 
privileges of commerce granted to the city itself on similar 
considerations. The oldest of such charters still existing in 
the city archives, dated in twelve hundred and nineteen, the 
gift or concession of the Emperor, Frederick II., creates it 
a free city of the Empire, exempting it from taxes or ser- 
vice to other feudal lords, providing imperial courts of jus- 



246 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

tice, and endowing it with rights of markets, fairs, coinage, 
and many other commercial privileges. With this and many 
other similar and subsequent charters, the city grew rich 
and prosperous ; its artisans were famous ; its markets 
crowded with their own fabrics, and with the luxuries of the 
East ; for, according to its chronicles, the north and west of 
Europe were supplied by the merchant princes of Nurem- 
bergh. Instead of being now a comparatively inferior city 
of some forty thousand inhabitants, its archives tell us of 
the days when a great portion of the commerce of Northern 
Europe and the Indian trade were in its hands ; when there 
were more than one hundred thousand busy citizens here ; 
when the merchants of northern and central Europe came in 
great numbers to its fairs and markets, and its burgher no- 
blesse were the friends and equals of princes. All this has 
long since changed. The discovery of the passage of the 
Cape of Good Hope naturally diverted a large portion of its 
commerce, and it fell into a decline from which it has not 
yet fully recovered. So, when the stranger now walks its 
quiet streets, he [must, in a great degree, content himself 
with the vestiges of its past greatness, and its departed com- 
mercial pre-eminence, though he must feel a certain sadness 
in seeing the immortal arts of Durer, Visscher, and Kraft, 
degenerated, in the hands of their modern successors, to the 
manufacture of Dutch toys ! and to find the once northern 
Venice, nowadays famous mainly for bijouterie. 

In such a town there is, of course, much to see and de- 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 247 

scribe ; but I have not purposed another detail of its sights, 
but rather ^to write of those things therein, which have, as 
yet, escaped the vigilant scrutiny of guide-book manufac- 
turers. When you go into its old churches, now, and since 
the days of Luther, devoted to the reformed religion, you 
will be struck with the presence of the mass-altars and pic- 
tures, statues and shrines of the old religion. Although the 
city was one of the earliest to embrace the doctrines of Lu- 
ther, the change was quiet ; radical in faith, but without the 
Iconoclastic spirit which reigned elsewhere. They were 
justly too much attached to their rich sculptures and carv- 
ings on the altars, shrines, statues, and pulpits, and to the 
exquisite paintings on glass, their pride for so many centu- 
ries, to destroy them, and convert the temples of taste into 
mere whitewashed, bare walls, as in Holland and elsewhere. 
The same good taste prevails everywhere in the city ; the 
ancient and beautiful carvings that ornament almost every 
building here, whether in stone or bronze, are uninjured, and 
generally fresh and perfect as of yesterday. The costume 
of the peasantry is quaint and old : a three-cornered hat, 
looped up on the sides, his long black vest with buttons of 
the silver coin of two florins, his immense black frock coat, 
breeches, buckles, etc., solemnly smoking his meerschaum, 
how repeatedly has he been painted by Ostade, and Douw, 
and Both, and the other Dutch Masters. The peasant wo- 
men seem fond of bright colered kerchiefs on their heads, a 
strong contrast between their curious Dutch jackets and 



248 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 



skirts ; and a market-day scene here is a living revival of 
many a Flemish painting which we are apt to think portrays 
a past age, 

The customs of society arc equally primitive and orn: 

— the salutation in the morning is to wish you a good appe- 
tite ; and they do not forget to wish you a good digestion 
after dinner. It is rather dangerous to sneeze, for the -whole 
company immediately turn round towards you and wish you 
good luck. The beauties of Nurembergh are fond of sit- 
ting in the closed glass balconies, with the little Dutch mir- 
ror swung outside at right angles to the house, reflecting 
every object in the street. They are forever busy with 
their embroidery, or, to use plain English, stocking knitting, 
an occupation which seems conveniently not to interfere with 
their observation of the mirror. Any fine afternoon, if you 
are desirous of seeing the fashion and beauty of the city 
assembled, walk out on the ramparts to the Rosenau, or 
Meadow of Roses. The name is merely figurative ; it is a 
collection of quiet ponds, with some green walks, pretty 
pavilions, cafes, benches, etc., with a raised circle in the 
centre for a band of music. There 'you will see no ambi- 
tious display of dress, and no exclusive circles ; but you 
will often see princes sitting side by side, and chatting socia- 
bly with the plainest citizens ; and every young belle will 
be plying that perpetual knitting; and although you can 
never go amiss of as much or more beauty than you would 
see in the Prater assemblages of Vienna, and of even a 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 249 

more delicate cast, the whole company, beau and belle, 
prince and citizen, are making themselves happy by quaffing 
beer from those richly carved flagons, which Douw seems to 
take pleasure in painting : whilst the band discourses good 
music in the shape of the last Vienna waltzes. It is fair to 
parenthesize, that the Nurembergh beer is a mild, pleasant 
beverage, an antipodes to the English ale. 

The habits of cleanliness here are worthy [of Holland. 
Early on Saturday afternoon, the process of weekly clean- 
sing begins, and its work is apparently thorough. The 
house is scrubbed, and dusted, and washed throughout ; 
every sly nook and corner is diligently probed and purified. 
But the pains-taking housewives do not stop here : the side- 
walk suffers the same process, and you will see the indus- 
trious servant washing the carriage-way, and diligently 
sweeping and cleansing every uncleanly stone and crevice 
therein. As in the Knickerbocker days of New York, by 
sunset of Saturday, the whole city is brushed, cleaned, and 
washed up ; and on Sunday morning the whole population 
are in church. Seldom, even in Germany, do you see 
church-going so unanimous. These simple, old-fashioned 
habits, are at least in admirable harmony with the quaint 
old city itself. 

One of the "pleasantest spots about Nurembergh, both in 
situation and also for intrinsic interest, is the Cemetery, or 
Freudeshof — the Court of Peace — as the German expresses 
it. It is on a hill just out of the town, approached by a 



250 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

road, which, from some fanciful resemblance in the surround- 
ing scenery, is called Via dolorosa; and its distance are 
measured exactly, as is said, with the path to the Calvary 
of Jerusalem, while the History of the Passion and of the 
Crucifixion is depicted in good stone relief on the roadsides. 
This ancient Cemetery is greatly more populous than the 
modern city. There are many tombs in it as early as four- 
teen hundred. The census of this ancient city has not been 
regularly kept from its commencement ; but from the best 
calculations, it is supposed that at least one hundred and fifty 
thousand persons are sleeping there. It is enclosed by a 
low wall, which also occasionally crosses it : marking the 
more recent extensions of its limits. From one side, the 
eye wanders with delight over the highly cultured plains of 
Bavaria ; and on the other, it rests upon the innumerable 
spires, feudal towers, walls, castles, and peaked roofs of old 
Nurembergh. I looked upon this scene gleaming in the rich 
hues of a fine summer sunset, and nothing could be more 
beautiful. This great gathering place — this sleeping history 
of the departed power and glory of Nurembergh, is too 
remote from the town to be disturbed by the slight bustle 
which animates its streets. Their mode of sepulture is 
uniform. Families lie together in deep stone vaults under a 
large brown altar-shaped stone, upon which the escutcheon 
and inscriptions are in general beautifully wrought in bronze. 
The inscriptions are usually simple, and many ornaments of 
bronze were in refined taste. One recent tablet of bronze 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 251 

in the shape of a Choir stall, bore a relief of an Angel rising 
with a Child, and under it the simple [inscription — " Hinu- 
ber" — Upward ! Another was a relief of the Angel of 
Immortality leaning on a spade. The face is beautiful, and 
the eyes look heavenwards. In this Cemetry arc the graves 
of Albrecht Durer and of Hans Sachs. They are like the 
rest; their inscriptions are nothing more than the usual 
record of mortality ; but they are now a place of pilgrimage 
of emperors and kings. The Kings of Bavaria, of late 
years, when holding their court, after the ancient custom, 
once in their reigns at the old castle^ in the town, have fre- 
quently visited these simple depositories of the Peasant Poet, 
and of him [who was the Leonardo Da Vinci of his native 
city. And many other poets and painters lie here : many 
knights and princes and benefactors : all, no doubt, great in 
their day, but whose fame has not crept beyond the walls of 
this old graveyard. Indeed, were one studious of the chro- 
nicles of this old city, no better treasury of its archives 
could be found than the simple biographies on these tombs. 

There is one other object of interest which is worth notice, 
before bidding adieu to Nurembergh. The family of Pehaim, 
here, possess a Globe made by their ancestor, Peter Pehaim, 
in the year 1492, whilst Columbus was yet at sea. It is said 
to be the earliest in existence ; and tradition says that its 
artist was an early patron, by his wealth and influence, of 
the enterprise of Columbus. It is in perfect preservation, 
although dingy enough by the lapse of centuries. About 



252 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 



two feet in diameter, it is suspended in a brass circle, marked 
with the courses of the winds, with the nanus and after the 
notions of classical geographers. The Equinoctal and Zodiac 
are dc fined, bu and 

longitude. America is of course not there ; the ocean flows 
over that side of the earth, which afterwards belonged to the 
western world ; and the fancy of the artist has depicted some 
whales spouting in the locality of the United States ; and 
some Spanish caravals are sailing in unknown directions over 
Mexico. A few mermaids are combing their locks somewhere 
near modern Greenland, and in old German he has inscribed 
underneath the intelligence that many of these peculiar 
animals are to be met with thereabouts. The configuration 
of Europe is certainly singular ; a certain wavy line answers 
for all coasts ; England is about the size of Malta ; Germany 
of modern Russia ; Spain, about double the size of France. 
The Mediterranean dwindles to a small lake ; a vast region 
protrudes into the sea, beyond the Indus ; and is described 
as the domain of the famous Kaiser Prester John. The 
Antilles are small obscure islands on the west coast of 
Africa. The Red Sea is a huge ocean, colored red; and 
Palestine is of the size of modern Turkey. The geographer 
evidently proportions the countries according to their relative 
importance. The whole surface is studded with droll figures 
as specimens of the inhabitants, productions, and distinctive 
features of the countries with continual inscriptions of their 
names, character, discovery, etc. : forming a diligent 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 253 

abstract of the works of the travellers and geographers 
whose names are quoted as authorities, and thus giving a 
very complete idea of the state of geographical knowledge 
of the time. 

This rarity, although amusing enough to us, is evidently 
the work of a man of much reading ; and it certainly has an 
additional interest as showing the state of geographical 
knowledge existing in Europe at that period, when the great 
Discoverer of a Western World had at last set forth on the 
voyage of achievement of the long settled purposes and 
convictions of his mind. Looking at this relic, one readily 
sees what vast obstacles were in his path ; the causes of the 
deeply _settled unbelief which met him on every appeal for 
assistance to his project ; and how strangely it must have 
sounded to their ears, when he reasoned of the actual 
existence of a mighty continent in that waste of waters, 
which their fancy peopled with mermaids and other denizens 
of the deep ! The Globe bears the autograph of the maker, 
and the date of its construction, and is of course above all 
price to the family who still possess it. A few years since 
the French Academy of Sciences caused a beautiful fac- 
simile in papier mache to be made of it, and one of the 
copies was presented to the family. The two globes stand 
together, and are open to examination of any one on appli- 
cation to the family. 

I had neither opportunity nor leisure to examine its library, 



254 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

but it is famious for many MSS. of Luther and Melancthon, 
and as a depository of much curious antiquarian lore. 

Although this sketch has filled its destined limits, it is 
scarcely a faint outline. To describe the lions of Nurem- 
bergh fully would occupy a volume, but its history would be 
more valuable and interesting. Several antiquarians are 
now at work in the old library, and very soon, no doubt, the 
great old town will find itself grown famous through their 
labors. R. d. 



From the Globe. New York, July 1847, 



Edinburgh, May 6th, 1847. 
My Dear Friend : — I have now been but little more 
than a week in the kingdom, and during this brief space 
have, by deviating from the beaten track and travelling by 
easy stages, seen more than usually falls to the lot of our 
countrymen. I arrived at Liverpool very fortunately in the 
middle of the Chester race week, — the spring meeting. 
Chester is a rare old town within but a half-hour's ride from 
Liverpool : starting from Birkenhead, the new suburb of fine 
cottage residences on the north side of the Mersey : it lies 
upon the beautiful river Dee, and is certainly one of the 
oldest towns in England. The old walls still surround it ; 
the streets — mere carriage-ways and very crooked and nar- 
row — named, as usual in walled towns, after the names of 
the Gates. Water Gate street, through which we rode to 
the course, is lined with the most antique fortress-like houses, 
gable-wise to the street, with strange and continuous galleries, 
as they might be called, enclosed with pillars and roofed by 
the projection of the second stories, whereby you may walk 
under cover like an old arcade, throughout the street ; curi- 
ous enough. We are here looking up a narrow street and 
see the old cathedral, hoar with the flight of many centuries. 



236 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

The town is said to have a population of some thirty- 
thousand ; but not a new house is to be seen anywhere ; every- 
thing is centuries old : and no effort of the imagination is 
required to people these curious old houses with the burghers 
of the reign of Coeur de Lion, and these old churches, which 
crowd so thickly around you at every step, with mailed 
knights, gay esquires and proud dames of the brave old days 
of chivalry. 

But to the races. The course is the most beautiful in 
England, and these races, having been long well sustained 
and fully attended, are ranked the third or fourth in order 
among the great races of the kingdom. Leaving the town 
Gate, the road leads you at once into a fine amphitheatre. 
I entered the fine railed park-like enclosure, after the first 
race called the Corinthian Stakes, for but seven horses, had 
terminated. The Grand Stand, a beautiful stone structure 
some eighty feet high, and as many feet long, with balconies 
and flat roof, was thronged with spec+ators. Crowds of 
ladies of the first rank and the best blood of the country, as 
they say here ; their beauty perhaps I should not allude to, 
but I could not but help thinking that if as many of our own 
fair countrywomen were assembled on some more appropriate 
occasion, the comparison would not be acceptable on this side 
of the water : the places here are held at a guinea each. It 
was too crowded to attempt a foothold. I stood on the 
judge's stand upon the course. Behind me, in an elevated 
sort of tower, stood the ^Earl of Chesterfield, called here 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 257 

" the Fox," from his red whiskers and sporting propensities, 
Sir James Gerard ond others, the stewards of the race. To 
the left of the grand stand and on a line with it, stretch for 
many hundred yards the old city walls, very elevated, and 
crowded from the tops all the way down the rich green banks 
at their foot with eager spectators ; farther on are the hilly 
banks of the Dee ; before you a range of low hills at the 
farthest quarter ; and returning to the right the elevated 
viaduct of the railway hence to Wales. The great circle of 
this beautiful amphitheatre, about a mile round, was lined 
with booths with gay streamers. In the centre the mounte- 
banks were tumbling into the air ; circular swings were fly- 
ing around at a great height, the whole interior of the course 
was filled with an immense multitude of all kinds, but well 
dressed, .seeming more like the gatherings at great fairs. It 
were no exaggeration to say that fifty thousand people were 
present. Presently the bell rang ; a rope was thrown across 
the course of some thirty feet width, enclosing the space from 
the first distance post — an octagon tower, where the starter 
stands, to the right up to the judge's stand. The horses, 
twenty -nine in number, were brought out ; the saddling took 
place ; the jockeys in top-boots, with various colored jackets 
and caps and smalls, whereby the horses are known. They 
mounted ; and after some few turns before the judge's stand 
for the advantage of the betters, the beautiful squadron took 
position in line at the first distance post. The bell rang 

again, the rope removed, the starter threw down his red flag, 
17 



258 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

(the usual signal here,) and off they bounded. Three times 
the gay cohort flew around, making two and a half miles, and 
on the last run, St. Lawrence, a black horse, somewhat of 
the make, though not so high as Peytona, came in ahead by 
a neck. He was not the favorite of the day with the gene- 
rality ; but some of the knowing ones took high bets, fifty to 
one upon him. This race was called the tradesmen's plate, 
the great cup race of the week ; purse two hundred and fifty 
sovereigns. I have forgotten the time made. The interest 
of the scene to me, was the beautiful amphitheatre, crowded 
with so many thousands, and the novelty of so large a num- 
ber of blood horses running together, as well as the great 
appointments and perfect system of the whole thing. In 
short, it was the chance of seeing one of the first races of 
England ; and I need not say it far exceeded all my elevated 
anticipations. At the termination of this race — which was 
to be followed by several smaller ones — I left the crowd of 
the race ground, and taking a carriage, drove through 
smiling hedge-rows and a rich country for some four miles to 
Eaton Hall, the seat of the Marquis of Westminster, one of 
the wealthiest noblemen in England. He is said to own some 
of ths best parts of London, Liverpool and the most of 
Chester, besides an almost interminable list of landed estates 
throughout the kingdom. All along the road are fine rustic 
lodges attached to Eaton Hall. Every now and then, 
through pretty slopes, the beautiful river Dee sweeps around 
eome grassy hillock, and the eye catches many a fine land- 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 259 

scape of rich and rolling land, through which the river winds 
its way, and clothed as these close-shaven lawns were with 
the fresh sparkling verdue of the early year, the picture 
could scarcely be paralleled even in our own fine, country. 
The road winds on thus to the outer gate of the park, Ayhich 
is upon a high bank of the river. I walked on for a quarter 
of a mile till I came to the second, or porter's gate ; upon the 
fine lawn of this outer park a herd of some forty deer were 
grazing. From the inner gate the road leads to the house. 
It is quite modern, not over fifty years old : of free stone and 
the purest Gothic. If I can trust the measurement of the 
eye, perhaps its front, altogether, would measure two hun- 
dred and fifty feet. The interior is not shown — having been 
closed for some time for repairs and alterations — but its 
exterior realizes to the eye a princely seat worthy of the 
proud Percys, or any other of the most ancient of England's 
Barons. Here is the great outer court, surrounded by the 
offices, servants' halls, etc., ornamented at its gateway with 
the armorial bearings of the Marquis ; and as you look along 
the east front, the eye wanders over a crowd of finely 
wrought pinnacles and tasteful Gothic ornaments, with every 
spare nook filled with the family shields, and rests with 
delight upon the noble Gothic entrance, with double stairway 
and double arched roof crowned with fine pinnacles. Below 
the house, and in front, the bank slopes some distance down 
to the river Dee, and the noble park spreads in the rear for 
some seven miles square. I have since seen other castles 



2G0 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

venerable for their antiquity and the illustrious descent of 
their proprietors ; but Alnwick is the only castle which sur- 
passes it in beauty of location. Leaving Liverpool the fol- 
lowing day, I have travelled through Manchester, where I 
had to regret my having arrived a week too late for the great 
performance of Mendelsshon's new Oratorio of Elijah, con- 
ducted here by the composer himself in Cobden's Free 
Trade Hall ; and after looking round the Cotton Factories, 
and hearing a fine subscription concert in their beautiful 
Concert Hall, went on through Leeds to York, where, after 
spending Sunday at the Minster, my first Sunday in En- 
gland, and one day in looking round this deeply interesting 
city, crowded with antiquities, went on to Durham, where I 
spent a day in its old cathedral, castle, etc., altogether the 
finest yet in England. I will attempt a description of this 
place, which is a little out of the way for our go-ahead 
American tourists, at some future time. It is the most 
charming place, both for picturesque scenery and the best 
specimens of the uarly Norman architecture, to be found in 
the north of England Thence by way of lovely Alnwick, 
and going about its castle, about which Halleck sings, so 
through New Castle and Berwick, to Auld Reekie, or, as 
they call it, the modern Athens. I design returning by the 
lake of Cumberland, and the west of England, stopping at 
Chatsworth, Haddon Hall, etc., and so going up to London. 
I must bring this long letter to a close ; but you see after 
all it has really described but one day's sights and scenes, 






SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 261 

the residue of the week since my arrival would easily fill a 
volume in plain detail. At home we have no conception of 
what crowds of interesting and delightful objects press upon 
you here at every turn. 

I give you Chester Race in detail, as it is so different from 
our own races, and furnishes an epitome of all English races, 
for they are all couducted the same way. I am getting 
weary, as all these sheets have been accomplished at one 
sitting this evening, after a fatiguing day. You may make 
what use of them you see fit. 

I expect to be in London about the 20th inst., and shall 
remain there till after the arrival of the first of June steamer 
from the United States. 

May 7th. — I have traversed the most of Edinburgh to- 
day, Scott's monument ascending to the top. Holyrood, 
Arthur's Seat, Parthenon, Canongate, Duddingstone, the 
great squares, looked around the University, etc. ; just by 
the window of the Lecture Room of the Professor of the 
Humanities, is the old house in which Sir Walter was born. 
To-morrow I go through the libraries, museum, and then to 
the Highlands ; on Sunday the 9th instant, expect to hear the 
famous Doctors Candlich and Guthrie preach, and perhaps on 
Monday to Stirling — and then return and go by the way of 
Melrose to Carlisle, and the Cumberland lakes. Travelling, 
though delightful work, must be systematized into a matter 
of business. Mean time good-bye. 

Yours, cordially, R. ,d 



From ihe Horn* Journal, N«w York, Jamuary I, 1849. 

New York, December., 1848. 

Gentlemen : — Allow me to enclose to you the following 
beautiful impromptu verses, said to have been written by the 
late Countess of Ellesmere, August 2d., 1840, but a few 
days before her death. 

The few words of preface which I ask the liberty to pre- 
mise, may 'serve as an outline of the little story of which 
these verses form no inappropriate conclusion. 

An American friend, long a resident of Europe, was, in 
the month of August, eighteen hundred and forty, on his 
return from Scotland, passing some time about the lakes of 
Windermere, Rydal Water, and other picturesque localities 
in the county of Cumberland, England, 

" Those spots to hallowed memory ever dear." 
He finished his delighted ramble ; and arriving at Kendal, 
took his place on the outside of the coach for Manchester. 
In those days, the railway was not even in contemplation. 
It was early in the day ; the morning was, as usual in the 
north of England's summer, cold and misty ; still, however, 
the inside seats being, as he was informed, all taken, neces- 
sity became a virtue ; and, well wrapped up, he prepared 
himself for a long day's ride, whose monotony might be re- 
lieved by occasional glimpses of the grand panoramas of 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 263 

lake and mountain of the English Switzerland, or by the 
harmless variety furnished by the coachman's sagacious 
observations on what they passed upon the route. 

After an hour's drive, on stopping [to change horses, our 
traveller discovered that the occupants of the interior of the 
coach were a lady and her maid-servant, only. They had 
taken all the places, for the sake of quiet and seclusion. 
The lady was apparently of rank. She was in delicate 
health, and in deep melancholy, and was engaged at the 
moment in culling and arranging a very elegant bouquet of 
flowers, evidently of those kinds which bloom upon the bor- 
ders of those romantic lakes. After they had all resumed 
their places in the coach, and resumed their route again, the 
maid, by the direction of the lady, politely offered the gen- 
tleman a scat inside, as a shelter from the weather, which 
had now settled into a heavy rain. This invitation, which 
was at first respectfully declined, from fear of intrusion, on 
being repeated at some subsequent relay, was accepted. My 
friend took a seat within the coach ; and the lady, seemingly 
wearied of the unmeaning chat of her maid, and apparently 
pleased with the presence of a gentleman of intelligence, 
soon fell into conversation, discoursing now and then upon 
her earlier history, and always, however, turning with reluc- 
tant interest to the melancholy shadow which consumption, 
her insidious destroyer, had cast athwart the sunlight of her 
days. She told him that though still very young, this fell 
disease had long since manifested its certain presence, and 



264 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

had increased to such a degree as threatened very soon to 
exhaust the fountains of her life. 

With such discoursing, they found it easy to beguile their 
travel of its weariness. The close of day found them at the 
end of their journey. On alighting from the coach, the 
lady was received by a gentleman of rank, with a rich 
equipage, into which she ascended, and drove off in the 
direction of Ellesmere Castle. Before alighting from the 
coach, she begged the acceptance, by my friend, of a large 
and beautiful carnation pink, of a rare species, culled from 
the borders of the Windermere, among the leaves of which 
the following beautiful lines, in pencil, were found by him. 

My friend afterwards learned that the fair authoress was 
the Countess of Ellesmere ; and within a fortnight of the 
period of this touching incident in life's pilgrimage, her de- 
stroyer accomplished his work, and the plaintive prophecy 
recorded in this impromptu was but too certainly fulfilled. 
The following verses conclude my little narrative : R. d. 

" Keep it ! it is the silent token 

Of one, vvhate'erher fate may he, 
Whose friendship will remain unbroken. 

E'en wheD at last forgot by thee. 

" Soon, soon, these dewy leaves will perish, 

And I, alas ! as soon may fade ; 
None, now on eanh, are left to cherish 

The memory of the minstrel maid. 

'•' Then, if thy path be trained in brightness, 

As I now hope that it may be, 
Dim not Ihy spirit's joyous lightness 

By one unhappy thought of me. 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 2G5 



:( But if thy path be dark and lonely, 
O think upon our parting hour, 

And breathe one sigh— I ask one only, 
For her who gave this token-flower." 






From tb« Democratic Review, March, 1849. 



It is an obvious truth, that if we are in the habit of daily 
listening to the conversation of any one upon subjects of 
interest, we have, of course, commenced with yielding a cer- 
tain confidence to his opinions : and, if the asperities of his 
logic be smoothed by skilful rhetoric, those opinions and sug- 
gestions, even though at first contrary to our own senti- 
ments, become gradually adopted by us, and eventually gain 
a controlling and undivided influence. 

The newspaper of a free press now occupies this position ; 
it has long since become the monitor of governments, and the 
daily oracle of society ; and the actual mental and social 
condition of a people may be fairly judged from the charac- 
ter and ability of its daily press. You are not surprised, in 
Prussia or Austria, to find the few journals permitted there 
by their despotic governments to be destitute of opinions, or 
of what is meant by politics of any sort, and made the mere 
vehicles for government advertisements. The inquiring 
stranger, when he reads their few and indifferent journals, 
draws the natural conclusion that the theory of those govern- 
ments is merely the right of the strongest ; and that the 
subject masses, if they really possess the living elements of 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 2G7 

liberty, have never been so far disenthralled as openly to 
speak the language of freemen. 

The steadfast persecution of the press by the fallen, 
chartered despotism in France, tended surely and rapidly to 
a similar result. 

But who would deny that the English people are nobly 
represented by the Times newspaper 1 It has its faults — 
numerous and great : has made many errors ; reasoned from 
many false premises ; uttered much abuse, and of late years, 
very severely, upon things in the United States — for which 
certain classes of our citizens owe it a deep and lasting ill- 
will. 

But, making these, and as many more concessions of a 
similar kind, who doubts the proposition? Has not this 
great newspaper been long since ranked as the first daily 
journal in the language 1 And deservedly so — for where 
else, in any newspaper, can be found so long a succession of 
leaders with such brilliant scholarship, polished rhetoric, and 
calm, prejudging statesmanship. It has spread its oracles 
before attentive Europe for forty years ; recording and pass- 
ing daily judgment on every step in the upward progress and 
decline of that modern Alexander — Napoleon Bonaparte ; 
mapping out, with keen and truthful vision, each battle field, 
and every political change, then, as at our da}^, upturning 
the repose of centuries. And what a constellation of great 
events, whose influence, reaching as they do to the founda- 
tions of society, and will endure for many generations, have 



2G8 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

gathered together in England, and in other lands, through 
the same period of years, and been recorded and judged in 
its columns ! 

It would, indeed, be little to say, that nowhere Avill the 
historian of our century more surely seek, or certainly find, 
better records of fact and indicia of contemporaneous opinion 
— in truth, a more able collection of memoires pour servir, 
than in the long series of its volumes. It has long since 
lifted itself above the influence of the parties of the hour ; 
and in its high position — the noblest that the mind can 
assume — discusses with equal ability and thorough knowledge, 
the ever-changing features of intriguing diplomacy on the 
continent of Europe, the great affairs of the British empire 
in the Indies, and all its grand colonial extent, with the 
momentous issues of home politics, following implicitly no 
party creed, but blaming and praising with a free hand, and, 
often, unexampled power, according to the dictates of its 
own opinions of the right. Having maintained this great 
position for a long series of years ; appealing at once to the 
whole people of England, and, through them, to the intelli- 
gence of Europe and the world, with impartial freedom upon 
great subjects, its circulation has long since gone out to the 
ends of the earth; and the Englishman in China or the 
South Sea looks for its arrival, and reads its columns, with 
as deep an interest as the London merchant, who implicitly 
listens to the same great oracle before commencing his daily 
business. 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 2G9 

Its reports are believed by all, for it is well known to pos- 
sess the earliest and best means of information, through its 
agents, resident in every leading city, with a compensation 
sufficiently liberal to secure them from the necessity of other 
occupations ; while it is well known that the most eminent 
talent finds adequate reward for service to its columns. 

The leading element of its power, that which, more than 
mere ability, secures its universfal reception and commanding 
influence, is its general impartiality — its average freedom 
from party trammels — whereby it becomes the exponent of 
that third party in a people, which, relying on its own strong 
political convictions, is unwilling to sway about at the caprice 
of the temporary party ; but retaining its own natural mental 
freedom, will sometimes, when its measures meet its convic- 
tions of the right, throw its whole influence into the scale of 
the government, and will, equally, when its acts are not so 
justified, exert the same influence in an opposition of fair 
arguments. This third party — this great reserve of actors 
and thinkers, existing in every educated people, aa?e the crea- 
tor! of the true public opinion, and the fit and final judges! of 
the tribunal before which the acts and measures of govern- 
ment and of public men are brought to judgment. 

It has been long since well said, that there are but two 
vital and controlling subjects worthy of the immortal energies 
of the mind — politics and religion. How a man is to be 
governed and govern others in all his social interests, and to 
make provision for the life hereafter — in any wise to treat 



270 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

on the first great subject, requires a secure position for a 
cool judgment, an absence of partizan ambition, feeling and 
interest, and high order of intellect ; possessing keen appre- 
hension and strong conviction of his rights, with ability and 
courage to maintain and utter it. 

Many may undertake the office of such an oracle — few 
will succeed ; but, if a journal be so conducted for a length 
of years, as, in spite of errors and of faults, to succeed in 
the main in being the fair exponees of that third party, the 
last depository of public opinion, always more or less re- 
ceiving therefrom a cordial response and lasting approval — 
such a journal becomes fairly entitled to general admiration 
and esteem. 

Although I would not wish these few weak words of ad- 
miration of the ability and great position held by the Times 
newspaper construed into an approval of its opinions in all 
cases — for it emanates from a country, many of whose 
political institutions and social conditions rightly find no sym- 
pathy or existence in the United States, and may be in fact 
false influences and stumbling-blocks in the pathway of hu- 
man freedom. 

But where, among the army of printed sheets which 
assume daily to marshal public opinion in our country, is 
there one to be compared with it ; one that, in any con- 
siderable degree, fulfils the high office of an impartial cen- 
sor of public events — whose opinions and reasons have, by a 
long course of uniform and high ability, acquired a secure 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 271 

pre-eminence, and which at the same time exercises any 
similar influence on the mind of Europe 1 Indeed, out of 
London or Paris, an American newspaper is almost unknown 
and unheard of in Europe. Go where you will, and, except 
an occasional copy of the Washington Union or the New 
York Herald, received by an American traveller, or by our 
legations, you cannot find them ; and the people in foreign 
cities, who daily read the Times, which is always to be 
found in every leading hotel on the Continent, know nothing 
more of American newspapers than the mere titles which are 
sometimes quoted as sources of American intelligence, which 
is always a short outline reaching Europe through English 
journals, or through Galignani's Messenger, where it occu- 
pies often not half of the same space as is allowed to the 
news of the intestine troubles of any comparatively insig- 
nificant state in Europe. 

While, on the other band, with ourselves, the arrival of 
the ocean steamer is the signal for an avalanche of European 
news, descending upon the people and spreading over the 
land in masses, without comment or selection : the few 
grains of wheat are mixed in bushels of chaff about the ever- 
changing and gambling intrigues for place and power in 
Continental cabinets, private details, and petty scandal of 
foreign courts, which really seem more interesting to repub- 
licans than to their own subjects ; and all manner of the 
most copious and useless information about the career and 
performances of famous dancers, singers, et id genus omne, 



27-2 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 



all of which eagerly-sought intelligence is no doubt greatly 
material to the welfare of our institutions in general, and of 
each of our citizens in particular ; and is, at least on our 
part, a well-meant tribute of thanks for that contented igno- 
rance of our affairs which reigns through Europe. 

There is one custom somewhat peculiar to our people — 
pleasant enough in its way, but singular in the character of 
a truly great nation, conscious of the rectitude of its princi- 
ples, and its solid claims to a position of high respect among 
the great powers of the world. It is the oft-remarked habit 
of self-glorification. Some may deny the truth of this posi- 
tion ; but the best evidence of its actual existence, is the 
tone of exclusive laudation of everything American which 
pervades our newspaper press, the nervous indignation with 
which they repel the smallest censure, well or ill founded, 
from abroad, particularly if it come from our ancient friends 
and relatives of England ; and as the natural result of this pe- 
culiar sentiment, nothing is more common, and perhaps more 
popular, than complacent predictions of the rapid spread of 
republican principles over all the monarchies of Europe. 
Such predictions never reach an European audience ; and, if 
they are ever fulfilled, it will not occur by the influence of 
our press, but by a well-grounded admiration of the institu- 
tions and measures of a great and wisely-ordered republic. 

Governments are made to conform to the genius and needs 
of the people governed, not the people for the governments ; 
and it may long remain a grave question, whether the masses 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 273 

of society in France or any other country of Europe, are 
really yet prepared for a popular government. 

This habit of self-laudation may or may not be the excess 
of a noble sentiment — Patriotism, driven to extremes ; but 
it is certainly not a little unbecoming to see a really great 
and powerful nation like ourselves habitually admiring its 
own proportions, and united in chanting its own praises. 

In no country there are so many newspapers, and conse- 
quently so universal a habit of journal reading, as in our 
own. The proportion in number to that of any other free 
country is well known to be vastly greater. With us they 
spread over and cover the whole land; and the habit of 
newspaper-reading is so well cultivated, that it has become 
an indispensable element of our social existence. 

The village editor commences his labors for the diffusion 
of knowledge among the seniors contemporaneously with the 
settlement, and the arrival of the schoolmaster to enlighten 
the juveniles. The press with us sees everything, hears 
everything, good and evil, public and private, and reports it 
at all times and all places ; the disseminator of all varieties of 
information, the great chartered newsmonger of our commu- 
nity. Every sect and party of our people counts eventually 
upon its newspaper as the chiefest of its auxiliaries to influ- 
ence. Every body buys and reads the newspaper ; and, as 
the venders must gratify all tastes to make their profits, 
every event, small and great, is daily chronicled. Morbid 
curiosity is gratified by the details of crime, usually with 



274 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

increased minuteness in proportion to the degree of atro- 
city, while the irresponsible letter-writer is always welcome 
to the columns when he can successfully invade the sanctities 
of private life. With all this mass of information, about 
things good and evil, which is daily collected and poured 
forth by the extraordinary activity of our newspaper press, 
forming by necessity the only intellectual aliment of a 
large portion of our community, how many in the community 
have the leisure or inclination to digest their intelligence 
and form any solid reflection therefrom 1 Generally, the 
newspaper is sought for very economy, as at^ a cheap rate 
you thus obtain both the intelligence and the opinion thereon 
ready made. 

But where is the public sentiment upon any grave question 
which touches the commonwealth to be found 1 Are we to 
be answered that it is at our doors in the newspapers — then 
every editor is its self-constituted mouth-piece ; and we may 
be allowed to imagine that a search for the real opinion of 
the people of the United States, among these conflicting 
oracles, would likely prove as satisfactory as the famous 
quest for the ten tribes of Israel. 

But it may then be said that the public sentiment is 
evinced by the results of our elections. This might be true, 
if we could believe that candidates were always fairly nomi- 
nated; were, in all cases, truly representatives of their 
constituency, and that elections were in all cases fairly con- 
ducted. But even supposing all these conditions uniformly 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 275 



to exist, is everything tested by the ballot 1 Out of the 
multitude of subjects upon which the formation of an opinion 
is momentous to the public weal, how many can be made the 
subject of an issue at the polls ? 

I conceive the depository of the real public opinion to be 
in that large portion of every free and intelligent community, 
who are in the habit of constantly applying the maxims of 
common sense to the formation of their opinion on public 
affairs ; who, therefore, never blindly follow the lead of 
party or its advocates ; who either have no occasion or dis- 
position to make their livelihood at politics ; who act on 
the principle that independent private judgment is the right 
and duty of every citizen, and whose votes are 'not the 
property of any party. Their judgments, sometimes may 
be wrong, but certainly have the fairest opportunity of being 
right; and without this class of men, who are stigmatized 
and called mere neutrals, only by heated partisans, there 
could be no such thing with us as government at all ; no one 
course of measure or of public policy could be pnrsued ; 
everything would be loose and afloat on the' waves of tran- 
sient sects and parties. 

It is very true, that the latter administrations of our 
government have conceived it their policy to destroy the 
works of their predecessors ; to build up systems which are 
sure to be taken down again by their successors ; and the 
experience merely of four years, often the infancy of an 
experiment, seems thought a sufficient test of its value, thus 



276 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

giving some evidence of the truth of the predictions of mon- 
archists, that our institutions secure little strength to the 
government, and that their rapid changes progress steadily 
to dissolution. 

Although practical politics cannot exist without different 
opinions or parties, and a free and enlightened government 
without politics ; yet does any one believe that the views of 
partisans in struggling for place and power, are to be deem- 
ed the real voice of the people 1 A very large proportion 
with us never believed it, and have long since taken and 
steadily exercised the right of private judgment, very often 
submitting to party excommunication therefor ; not wishing or 
needing office or temporary applause, vote and otherwise 
express their political opinions without regard to the creeds 
and edicts of sects and parties ; but supporting or opposing 
the government only as they are convinced of the right or 
justice of its measures. Such men are rarely in public 
places, these are conferred as party rewards ; but both par- 
ties appeal to them for votes ; and w"hen any real exigency 
occurs, none are more ready to supply the needs of the 
government to the extent of their abilities. Of course this 
class of men are found in all divisions of the community, 
and their influence is recognised at all times. A proof of 
their actual and habitual influence, although much threat- 
ened by party, may be found in the earlier or recent Con- 
ventions, whose Constitutional changes in the state of New 
York were ratified by the almost unanimous voice of the 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 277 

people of that state. These assuredly were the fruit of the 
exercised common sense of some of the best minds and 
hearts of the community ; of that true public opinion above 
and beyond all parties of which I have spoken. They alone 
would prove its existence ; and while they also evince its 
purity and wisdom, show that it is really the supreme power 
of the government in our country. 

And yet this large and powerful class of our fellow citi- 
zens is, with some few though excellent exceptions, without 
a newspaper, whilst the smallest faction is abundantly pro- 
vided. 

The fact is extraordinary, that in this land of free opinion, 
almost every chartered exponent is but the organ of a party, 
and that such 'a thing as an impartial journal is almost 
denied existence. Does any one really believe that it were 
impossible to be successfully maintained 1 Does every man 
then in the United States really think and act according to 
party creeds, or do those creeds always contain the whole truth 
on political subjects 1 And must we then consider the govern- 
ment of the country to be the composite of the various 
opinions enunciated by partisans of all shades and sects ? 
Were such things true, government would cease to be 
government, and become but the occasional suspensions of 
anarchy. 

There is surely no countryin the world of the wide-spread 
and strong intelligence of our own, where such a newspaper, 
if properly conducted, would find so large an audience, 



278 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 



already prepared, by a settled distaste to the sectional 
character of the existing press to read and support its 
opinions. 

But mere impracticable neutrality — mere theory, would 
not suffice. 

Its spirit should only be practical reason applied to public 
affairs ; the judgment of a strong mind, polished by study 
and enlightened by intercourse with its fellows, should be 
exhibited in its leaders : and while uniting the essentials of 
the earliest and most accurate intelligence of value, derived 
and digested from authoritative sources, should lift itself up 
above the parties of the hour, and appeal to the great majo- 
rity of the people for its approval and support. 

It would then be really the Times newspaper of America ; 
while, by the simple majesty of free judgment, its influence 
would be felt both among the parties and in all classes at 
home ; — it would go abroad, as the only reliable exponent of 
the state of things in our country to Europe. 

Such a newspaper might be started by individual effort ; 
what is needed only is a conviction of the value of a news- 
paper of such a character among the business community of 
the United States. They hold the wealth, and their practi- 
cal decisions'must more or less control parties. 

Cannot such a newspaper, whose ability and value may 
fairly be compared with the English Times, be commenced 
and supported in some of our large cities ? What is wanted 
is an immediate sense of its need ; and the necessary com- 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 279 



bination of the men, the means and the ability, can be 
readily formed, the enterprise well started, and by an approv- 
ing community well sustained. 

Newspapers of such a stamp would be a new era with us ; 
while they would drive off from popular attention the demo- 
ralized portions of the press ; they would correct the errors 
of parties, elevate the tone of political sentiment and discus- 
sion, and take and sustain the first place in the esteem and 
confidence of the great majority of the people. 

B. D. 



From the N. Y. Knickerbocker Magazine, for Jan. 1858. 



Scenes in the Old World : or Scenes and Cities in 
Foreign Lands. By William Furniss. Accompanied 
■with a Map and Illustrations. In one volume, pp. 290. 
New-York : D. Appleton and Company. 

A correspondent, himself a fellow-traveller "with the 
author over several of the countries described in the above- 
entitled volume, and well qualified to speak of the faithful- 
ness, etc. j of its descriptions, sends us the following running 
commentary upon the work : 

1 We thank our fellow-townsman for giving us a pleasant 
and readable book. Truly, if any one should wish to essay 
the climax of the difficulties of author skill, let him now 
undertake to please the general reader by another ' Book of 
Travels in Europe.' Every man travels with his own pack ; 
that is to say, the change of clime will only furnish new and 
more extensive fields for the exercise of the educated power 
of each man's faculties. Some go to Europe for the mere 
object apparently of finding fault, and seeking occasions for 
ill-humor with every thing ; some go for the steadfast pur- 
suit of exalted studies in those spheres to which the rest of 
the world has no equal ; some for mere material enjoyment ; 
and some, like our author, with head and heart open and 
attentive to every impression of the good and beautiful. He 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 281 

tells his story well ; and the personal incidents thrown in 
make his reader to become unconsciously a fellow-wanderer 
at his side, going about strange countries, meeting with odd, 
outlandish people and scenes, laughing at their follies and 
their jokes, admiring every thing worthy, never ruffled, but 
keeping the even tenor of his happy enthusiasm of enjoy- 
ment through all nations and all lands. There are no prosy 
descriptions of the old lions, no dull journalizing details of 
particulars not worth the memory, no guide-book stuff of 
routes, inns, prices, etc., but combining the pleasant par- 
ticulars of his remembrance, he "gives us a life-like picture 
of every thing on his way. After a pleasant sojourn in 
1 Fatherland,' our author goes over the Channel, and gives 
us a lively and truthful sketch of much that makes up 
Parisian happiness. We select at random from the book ; 
and conscious that a vast proportion of the comfort of exist- 
ence centres in a good dinner, let us first walk with the 
author to Philippe's in the Rue - Richelieu ; Philippe, the 
Monarque de la Cuisine : 

" Few who are given to sight-seeing fail to rest the day 
with a dinner ; which leads one to speak of the restaurants. 
Epicures grieve for those days when princes drove to the 
1 Rocker des Cancales? Philippe, in our experience, has 
supplied its fall, and equals the more noted and dearer of the 
Boulevards, or the Palais Royal. Beside, one does not wish 
to be bored by English, but seeks the resort of quiet, full- 
fed citizens, who have made the reputation of this voluptuous 
resort tn the Rue Mont-Martre, near the passage Saumon. 
We quote only the rich tastes of his ' Sole a la Normande' 



282 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

and his ' Soupc a la Bisque.' No restaurant life would suit 
that man who counts his mouthfuls as he eats, and sighs as 
if each forkful ripped up the lining of his pocket. We 
would recommend the ' Europe' to him, where he can get 
dog-steaks and horse-chops for twenty sous. A glorious 
appetite might ruin such a youth, and make his very stomach 
spendthrift.' 

' And now let us stroll with him after dinner : 

" He is cross-grained by instinct who cannot be pleased in 
his daily walks in Paris. Your sobriety must be checked 
here, rather than your vices, where, with a share of good- 
nature and humor about you, you fall into excellent keeping 
with those thousand petits riens and absurdities which hourly 
amuse you. Our daily habit was to hire a chair before the 
cafe of the Trois Freres, where we picked up many little 
fragments of joy, and used to laugh at the coquetry of the 
garden and at the roar of our waiter, whose ' 6o?i' for coffee 
made the reputation of that little glazed shop which pro- 
trudes into the court before the fountain. The correct thing 
is to take your cigar at another cafe, or sip your mocha on 
the ' Italicnnes,' while some one of your acquaintances is 
passing along, and you wonder ' who is that pretty woman 
on his arm V — you may be sure she is only his cousin. Or 
for novelty you may stroll to the quarter of the Faubourg 
St. Martin, and watch the ouvriers with their grisettes 
tripping along so light, with their frilled caps fluttering in 
the wind. There are no grisettes at the court end, for they 
become converted into lorettes when they pass the chapel 
where they worship." 

' Our author goes to see every thing else there is in the 
stranger's way, and tells a very pleasant story thereupon. 
Our limits must be economized for extracts from his book on 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 283 

other places. Switzerland is thoroughly ransacked by the 
wanderer; and among the out-of-the-way places there he 
climbs up from Lucerne's Lake of Beauty to that strange 
modern infatuation, the Roman Catholic's Mecca, Einisiedeln. 
The Rhine, its glories past and present, is well realized by 
the traveller ; and hasting through Belgium, touching which 
lie gives us some pleasant narratives, and immovably primi- 
tive Holland, whose prim antiquities of men and things, with 
its sober thrift and cleanliness, are certainly not all unknown 
or unappreciated, he finds himself, by a short step, for we 
pass quickly between kingdoms there, in the dominions of 
the ' buried majesty of Denmark.' We quoce a few para- 
graphs of his visit to Copenhagen, the capital of the King of 
the Northmen : 

" The country through which the rail-road passes is very 
flat, the soil sandy, and admits of but little cultivation. 
After taking our berths on board the steamer for Copen- 
hagen, we were struck with the similarity of their words of 
command with the English ; for there was nothing spoken 
but ' baack her' and ' stap her.' We had a fine run that 
night, and under the light of a full moon soon made our way 
through the Ost Sea. On the morrow we were agreeably 
surprised at meeting Mr. Flanniken, our charge at this 
court, on board ; so that our entrance to the harbor was en- 
livened by a pleasant chat over the beauties of the city, 
which lay so charmingly in prospect. 

" Copenhagen is built on the islands of Seeland and Amack, 
which are united by two fine bridges. Besides the remark- 
ably strong fortifications which defend its coast, and its 
charming and picturesque location, it has the peculiarity of 



284 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

having suffered more from war and conflagration than any- 
other city in Europe. 

" The day after my arrival I had the pleasure of meeting 
a class-mate, who had just come from the North Cape, after 
having completed a tour of two years in the north of Asia 
and Europe. One feels a sense of diminutiveness on seeing 
a man who had visited Siberia, and lived on fish-skin and 
whale oil for the last four months ; for I must confess my 
pretensions to travel grew less, as I viewed with awe the 
huge beard of my old chum, who had ridden the great polar 
bear, and cast a squint over the crater of the Norwegian 
Maelstrom. In my [confusion I sought relief within the 
chaste proportions of the ' New Kirche,' the King's Chapel ; 
and recovered proper balance of mind in the calm and quiet 
contemplation of what was truly great and beautiful in art, 
as brought out and created perfect under the inspiration of 
Thorwaldsen's genius. There stands his Christ and the 
twelve Apostles, on each side of the nave and behind the 
altar. Before it is that beautiful baptismal font, a simple 
shell, held by a kneeling angel ; and over the portal is the 
Sermon on the Mount, exquisitely touching, in marble bas- 
relief. The spirit of truth love and devotion, breathes in 
those mute locks ; they animated his finer clay, who inhaled 
them at his birth." 

' Denmark is seldom visited by Americans ; and hence his 
descriptions, which are minute, will be found interesting. 
Going thence to Berlin, he forgets not to pay his respects to 
our hospitable representatives at that court, Mr. Donelson 
and Mr. Fay, whose kind reception having been enjoyed by 
the writer of this notice, in common with many of our coun- 
trymen, he can fully endorse the sentiments of the author : 



' : SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 285 

" That same evening I had the pleasure of meeting a num- 
ber of my countrymen at the embassy, "where no American 
should fail to go, so long as our country is so ably represent- 
ed by Donelson and Fay. I was never more amused than 
with our minister's description of German character and 
manners, which were only equalled by his sovereign con- 
tempt for their language, or his resolute determination to 
follow in the footsteps of Talleyrand, and never to com- 
mit his diplomacy in any other tongue than the vernacular. 

' Mr. Donelson has succeeded in gaining the admiration 
and esteem of the Court and of his fellow diplomatists, solely 
from the fact of his originality of thought and expression, 
and that wild and generous cordiality which brooks no cere- 
mony, and puts all etiquette and mysticism at defiance. 
The great minds of Berlin admire and wonder at one who 
puzzles them by a system of metaphysics, even too abstruse 
for Kant.' 

' Thence to Dresden and the Bastei and Munich, that 

German Athens, Bavaria, over to mediceval, orient-looking, 

and oft-beleaguered Prague, and then a glorious ramble 

about Tyrol's mountains and valleys. We almost envy him 

the pleasure of visiting such a city there as Salzburgh, of 

which we have a good description : 

" In a charming position on the turbid Salz, which divides 
the city in two, and surrounded on three sides by mountains, 
lies the beautiful capital of Salzburg. The city proper is 
snugly lodged in a valley, between the Monksberg and the 
Capuchiner, from whose tops you have a glorious view of its 
surrounding beauties. That stern old castle in the upper 
town, perched on the very summit of an abrupt mountain, 
dominates the town and its extensive environs ; and the 



286 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

views you have from the outer galleries of this irregular for- 
tress are truly wonderful. That old castle in the middle 
ages, was the seat of a warrior Archbishop, who belonged, 
verily, to the Church militant, and kept his bands of armed 
retainers ever ready to wage war on infidels, or if necessary, 
to bring his rebellious parishioners to terms. That fine 
cathedral with its facing of marble, was built after the 
model of St. Peters ; and in the square before the Court 
House, is one of those rare compositions in the shape of 
fountains, which would do honor to the best of Italy, so ex- 
quisite is its design. Mozart was born in this town, and 
his statue stands on a place called especially after his name ; 
while not far off, in another street, is the mansion of the re- 
nowned naturalist Paracelsus. 

" One of the most agreeable excursions in the vicinity, is 
that to Berchtesgarten. Soon after leaving town, your road 
passes under the brow of the Unterburgs, which is famed for 
its statuary marble, and continues on the side of the river 
Aries to Berchtesgarten, the summer residence of the King 
of Bavaria, which is beautifully lodged at the foot of the 
snow-clad Wattzmann. 

" One can scarcely imagine a more charming succession of 
landscapes than those thus presented; so full of pictorial 
subjects, such outlines of noble mountains, so powerful to 
awake the most fervent and thrilling . sensation of loveliness 
and beauty, so happily terminated by the bold shore of the 
' Koenig Sea,' the most beautiful point in all this rich and 
glowing scenery. Grand are its effects, as it is hemmed in 
by high towering cliffs, which brood over its surface, and 
give to its waves a tone of pleasing melancholy. Its waters 
are of the darkest green, and where the overhanging rocks 
overshadow its lake, their color is almost black. All times, 
the hills slope down covered with foilage of dark pines to its 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 287 

edge, and again at the sudden turns of the lake, bold per- 
pendicular walls rise so abruptly from its level as to leave 
no margin, and you seem as if shut in a* the bottom of a 
basaltic well. The royal hunting lodge lies at the base of 
the frowning Wattzmann, and is resorted to for the chamois, 
and for its trout. Some of these fishes are so remarkable, 
that their portraits are taken and hung up in frames round 
the walls of this palace. 

" Such are the natural beauties of this singular sea, and 
with such rich materials, it would require no strain of fancy 
to transform that blue-eyed girl who rows you over, into 
another ' Lady of the Lake,' or to frame a heroine out of 
the charming little ' kellnerin' who waits on you, on your 
return to the village inn." 

' Thence by various stages our author posted to Vienna, 
where the writer of this notice had the pleasure of first 
meeting him ; where, in that spider-web sort of a city, with 
its green belt of glacis, and palatial suburbs, modern pre- 
sumption or court flatterers profess to enshrine, in the paltry 
decripitude of Austrian monarchy, a successor to the illimit- 
able genius and vast power of the mediaeval lord of Europe, 
Charlemagne. Could he now arise from his tomb of ages, 
and walk the earth like Denmark's royal ghost, he would 
laugh to scorn the paltry patch-work of despotic imbecility, 
which under high sounding titles demands the abject submis- 
sion of the best and freest hearts of Europe. However, 
Vienna is a gay place ; the German's Paradise ; and we 
spent weeks together there in its delightful galleries, libra- 
ries, collections and palaces ; frequently seeing the magni- 



288 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

ficent pomp of that court, and mutually struck by the 
consummate political knavery visible even in the countenance 
of Metternich, and all his acts ; listened so often to 
Strauss, and watched the happy people swinging in the 
polka, rejoiced over its charming cuisine, and went away 
together from the 'Gulden Lamm,' sure that we were better 
pleased with Vienna than with any other city of Middle 
Europe. Our friend forgets his usual courtesy by not 
returning the real kindnes that we received from our admir- 
able representative there, Mr. Stiles, a gentleman who 
deserves and has won golden opinions from all parties. And 
then we voyaged on the Mississippi of Europe, its mighty 
artery, the majestic Danube, all the way from Vienna, till 
by one of its twelve huge mouths we sailed upon the Black 
Sea — the stormy Euxine. Here was an odder jumble than 
ever on board the steamer ; and our author does full 
justice to the amours of the frolicsome Princess with the 
handsome Count, the free-making grisette, the bridal party, 
and every thing else of interest on board, while he gives us 
living descriptions of what we saw and enjoyed on shore. 
But we suffered some perils of the sea ; for as Byron says : 

' There's not a sea the traveller e'er pukes in, 
Throws up such ugly billows as the Euxine.' 

We tossed a day or two upon its stormy waves, when we 
came to the Simplegades, floating in the blue waters at the 
gate of that pathway of enchantment, the Bosphorus. The 
most exalted description can ever enable a reader fully to 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 289 

realize such beauty ; but our author gives perhaps as good a 
descriptions of the scene as can be conveyed by an unprac- 
tised pen : 

" The opening scene of the Bosphorus is grand. You 
enter these straits where the protruding shores of two oppo- 
site continents look down upon the dark and abrupt mass of 
the rocks ' Simplegades,' which lull the rough and stormy 
waves of the Euxine into calm repose. That bold coast, 
bristling with Saracenic towers and mounted with heavy 
cannon, is soon succeeded by the overhanging heights of 
Belgrade, which are crowned by the ruins of an ancient 
aqueduct, and followed by gentle undulating hills, which 
enclose the dark waters of that channel within the charming 
bay of Buyukadere. Your sail from this point, and even for 
twenty miles, embraces a succession of charming landscapes 
and views of unrivaled beauty ; and as you pass through the 
narrowing straits at the outlet of the bay, you glance back 
on the lofty summits of the Asiatic shore, and over the ter- 
raced slopes of those banks, glowing in all the richness of 
oriental foliage, and basking in all the ferver of bright sun- 
shine and reflected sea. 

"Wildly runs its current within thejnow approaching head- 
lands of two opposite continents, as its waters chafe the base 
of the castle of Europe ; while dark cypresses and umbrella 
pines mournfully look down over the ruins of this dismantled 
fortress, and across the stream rise the bolder outlines of 
Asia's stronghold, which guards the soft vales of the valley 
Goksu and those beautiful sweet waters of the sunny South. 
You do not fail to observe the rich contrast of these woody 
heights, as they deck both margins with varied beauty. On 
one side thick masses of northern forest cluster around the 

villas which dot the hill-side, and hanging gardens fall from 
19 



290 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

parapet and terrace, clothing these declivities in all varieties 
of shade and verdure. On the other shore the softer skies 
of the orient relieve luxuriant pastures of a lovelier green, 
and the gay foilage of tropical fruit and flower ; while the 
air is redolent with sweet fragrance of jessamine and orange, 
wafted by Zephyr through groves of rhododendrons and 
acacias. 

" There is a magical effect in the increasing and moving 
loveliness of these scenes, and the landscape warms with 
interest as you are borne onward in your approach to the 
city. All is now life and animation. Caiques of every size, 
holding in their prows bouquets of fresh flowers, propitiatory 
offerings to the waves, and brilliant with the gaudy colors of 
the richly-costumed passengers, move upon the surface of 
those waters ; and long flocks of wild-fowl hurry by, skim- 
ming over the dancing billows, in perpetual motion, doomed, 
in the legends of the Turks, ' to hover, like evil spirits, 
without rest for ever!' The shores are now lined with the 
dwellings of Armenian and Turk, Frank and Jew, each dis- 
tinguished by their pecular colors of red, yellow and white ; 
beyond are the palaces of the resident ministers and gran- 
dees ; all following to fill up the harmonious whole which 
enchants the sight, until the Aladdin palace of the Sultan 
fronts upon the bay, whence you are allured by a succession 
of beautiful views to the very entrance of the Porte. Truly 
there is no such approach to any other city in the world ; such 
a mosaic of rich palaces and landscape, charming scenery 
and lovely skies ! such a combination of effects, such rich 
contrasts and variety of moving pictures ? 

" This mingling of beauties, this extravagance in the 
lavished gifts of nature, forms but a part of the wonders of 
the land, and unites with the Bosphorus, its castles and tow- 
ers, bays and inlets, hills and forests, villas and villages, 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 291 

sunny prospects and delightful vales, mosques and minarets, 
summer palaces and kiosks, fountains and baths, to frame in 
unison a whole which, with the suburbs and environs, coast 
scenery and seas, claims for Stamboul pre-eminently above 
all of earth's cities, its reputation and its name of the 
' Sublime Porte.' ' 

1 Constantinople, which stands as it were a great forest of 
gardens, palaces, mosques, towers and minarets, sprung out 
of this beautiful sea, an Aladdin creation, a realized en- 
chantment, girdled on its lofty promontory by the beautiful 
crescent of the Golden Horn on the one side, the smooth Sea 
of Marmora on the other, and the Bosphorus in front, over 
whose circle of waters the gilded caiques shoot innumerable, 
like fire-flies ; that vast city, where dwell over a million of 
souls who call Mohammed the prophet of God ; which has 
been the great gathering-place for all the nations of the East 
from the days of Constantine to its present monarch, 
Abdul Meschid ; that great city, ' thou that art situate at 
the entry of the sea, which art the merchant of the people 
for many isles,' who can hope fully to give thy picture in 
words, or reproduce the impressions of those who have had 
the happiness of visiting thee'? We spent weeks together 
there, endeavoring to obtain a full impression of its oriental 
splendor ; we disregarded all the annoyances which the tra- 
veller every where meets with in those countries, and went 
about it and around it in all directions, and the eye never 
wearied with its transcendant beauty, and the mind could 
never fully embody and bring down to the decaying monu- 



J92 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

ments around us that glorious panorama of historical associ- 
ations which cluster there from the clays of the lavish splen- 
dors of Constantine and the Roman Emperors, till the 
slumbers of their Greek successors were roused by that ge- 
neral Tocsin of Europe, the Crusades ; and then its terrific 
sieges of ancient and mediseval time, unto the hour when 
Othman spread forth the blood-red banner of the Prophet 
and claimed this queen of cities as the heritage of the 
Faithful. 

1 Our author gives us an interresting description of Con- 
stantinople, and of its beauty, as we beheld it, in perfectly 
halcyon weather. He has conveyed, in a brief compass, an 
admirable outline of almost every thing there. The writer 
left him in that city, and his book concludes its pleasant 
story, by landing him in Alexandria. 



For the Knickerbocker Magazine, N. Y. for March, 1150, 

Waraga, or the Charms of the Nile, by William 
Furniss. New-York : Baker & Scribner, 36 Park Row, 
1850. 12mo. pp. 456. 

" Who is this that cometh up as a flood ; whose waters are moved as the 
rivers 1" 
" Egypt riseth up like a flood." Jer. xlvi, 7, 8, 



Ay, deeply do we regret that sundry new quarantines, and 
evil reports of the Lazzarettos, into which we should have been 
buried, whereof so much talk was had during our stay at Stam- 
boul, prevented us from visiting Egypt, but as we turn over the 
pages of this charming volume, its life-like pictures almost 
banish those regrets ; we are at once transported beneath the 
shadows of the Pyramids, the imagination feels again the awful 
presence of that mighty line of Pharaohs, whose beginning 
stretches upward far as the Deluge, and whose dynasty, 
though interrupted, has by the majestic energies of that 
modern Pharaoh Mehemet Ali, been in fact restored and 
continued ; whose deeds the stilus of History has already en- 
graved, and is now only pausing to record the completion of 
his plans by his successors. 

Egypt ! Great Mother of Science and of Art ! What think- 
ing mind has not dreamed of thee ! From true-hearted chil- 
dren on their Mother's knee, listening with awe to the sacred 
story of the down trodden thousands of Israel " they who 
were in this, their land of bondage, ' hewers of wood and 



294 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

drawers of water,' " of Moses their mighty Prophet, Priest 
and Lawgiver, of his entreating Pharaoh, to let his Nation, 
" the People of Gocl " go free ; of that Catalogue of wondrous 
miracles whereof the world had no parallel till the Sacred Ad- 
vent, wrought by the hand of Moses before the Court, and over 
the broad land of Egypt ; and of the Egyptian Magii, by their 
surpassing arts working similar miracles ; of the hard hearted 
Pharaoh defying the visible power of God, and choked with 
avarice, refusing to let " k His People" go ; and how the thou- 
sands of Israel fled forth in the night, led by that mighty 
Pillar of fire ; and how the Great King, with his hosts of 
Chariots and men of war, pursued after them, and sunk into 
the midst of the sea. 

And the never-wearying Story of Joseph ; his story could 
have been told by none other than Him who made and knew 
all the fountains of human feeling ; and then the undying 
memory delights to recall our young imaginations pictures 
of the glory and splendor of the Palaces; the pomp of war, 
and the majestic Monuments of Egypt's Mighty Kings. The 
hosts of Israel had fled away into the Wilderness, their 
country of Goshen, though a pleasant land was deserted, yet 
the Glory of Egypt, and its Pharaohs had not departed ; but 
continued to shine until the general gloom of the Mediaeval 
darkness finally overshadowed the land and extinguished its 
splendors, and the Empire of Egypt whose foundations were 
laid in the beginning of time, and which had for vast succes- 
sions of ages concentrated and spread forth all learning to all 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 295 

lands, and all times, like a General Mother of them all, was 
subjugated into a dependant province of more warlike Conque- 
rors, degraded to a mere pro-consulate, forgotten by the as- 
piring Gaul, for whom 

" Westward the Star of Empire took its way " 

till the Othman hordes of Asia, spread over its beautiful land 
and River, and ascended the vacant Throne of the Ptolemies. 

Where in the wide world can Author or Traveller find a 
Country more interesting to visit or study % Has it been ex- 
hausted ? 

Bring together the vast Library of volumes, of learned dis- 
quisitions on this land, past and present : assemble the great 
Museum of Collections, and you will find that the half has 
not been told you ; that the keen and persevering quest of 
Belzoni, Champollion, and their successors, have not yet de- 
ciphered the one half of its engraved story, and that the great 
purpose of its mighty monuments, like the vast ruins of its 
deserted cities, are still an unfathomed mystery. Their lan- 
guage has again spoken to living men, breaking the silent 
waste of ages, but we are yet in the vestibule and have not 
yet heard the breathings of this mighty oracle and monitor of 
all time. 

The volume whose title heads this article has no preten- 
sions to reveal the mysteries of this adytum of learning. 

It is simply the composite of the daily records of an intel- 
ligent and tasteful mind wandering upon the Nile, and with 
the lights of good reading and quick and steady observation 



296 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

recording the impressions of each one of Egypts mighty 
monuments : whilst a delightful vein of personal incident and 
adventure flows through all the descriptions. For a book of 
travel story, Eothen has been called the best ; but we who 
have read both and seen much that both describe, candidly, 
both for use and entertainment, prefer Waraga. Parallels 
of comparison would not be of much avail here ; as the best 
proof of our judgment can only be the discriminating perusal 
of the volume itself. 

' It is the record of a voyage up the Nile — of which we 
may well quote the Childe Harold. 

" And thou exulting and abounding River, 

" Making thy waves a blessing as they flow ; 

" Through banks whose beauty will endure for ever. 

" Could man but leave thy bright creation so, 

" Nor its fair promise from the surface mow 

" With the sharp scythe of conflict : then to see 

" Thy valley of sweet waters ; were to know 

" Earth paved like Heaven ; and to seem such to me, 

"Even now, what lacks thy stream that it should Lethe be. 



We will select a few chance extracts : 

" Thus occupied and amused, we ran on until towards even- 
ing. The sun was sinking to the west, the shadows thrown 
in front of the spectator — and all our passengers were on the 
look-out with their glasses — when suddenly the pilot cried 
out with a shout, " El kitab ! El kitab !" The word was 
passed, and all sprang forward to see the Pyramids. 

The Pyramids ! — there they stood — the Pyramids of our 
early dreams — the wonders of our infancy. Triangular 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 297 

solids, rising on a plain of the Desert — immensity projected 
on eternity ! — Colossal tombs of a lost secret — the wonder 
of the world -which we called ancient. They were antiques 
even in that age of antiquities ! ! ! I was not dis- 
appointed ; I felt as if I had solved a calculus in solid trigo- 
nometry. I almost thought I had squared the circle of a 
world !" 



THE PACHA. 

" We had retired from the gates of Hassan, and were 
returning back to the Hotel, wending our way through the 
main bazaar, when we were startled by the shrill searching 
snap of the courier's korbag. The crowds of sooks dispersed 
at the sound of the cracking thong, as the cawass shouted, 
i Make way for the Pacha !' ' clear the path of the Sultan !' 
The sound of the alarm is passed from the mouth of the 
retiring multitude. Men, women, and children shrink away 
behind the counters of the bazaar ; the boys shove their 
donkeys suddenly and violently round by the haunches into 
the narrow side-streets, the camel leaders goad their beasts 
around the corners of the wall, and the shopkeepers drop 
their work and pipes as the air rings with the repeated 
order, ' Make way ! Shemalek ! Riglack ! Riglack ! to the 
right ! to the left ! out of the road of the King !' Then, as 
the bostangi runs by in breathless haste, the Nizam guard at 
his post drops his musket at the salute ; when suddenly, in 
hot speed, approach four spirited white Arabians, and dash 
through the crowded thoroughfare, bearing along the august 
person of the Viceroy ; and while the carriage rushes by, — 
it is but the vision of a moment, — I saw within its folds the 
long venerable white beard of a noble old man, hiding the 
visage of Mehemet Ali, That sight was like a flickering 



298 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 



dream of eventide. He looked like the spirit of the East ; 
and as his small, dark, brilliant eyes flashed out, discovering 
the contour of his smoky beard, the vision vanished like a 
star behind the clouds of midnight, and impressed me with a 
more august sense of the omnipotent thrall of the sovereign, 
than would an age of courts. That sight was enough for 
me ; I would not spoil the charm of such a glimpse for all 
the pomp and glory of a court, when the king is surrounded 
by guards, officers, eunuchs, and satraps. 



Contract or Hire for the Nile Voyage. 

" After a week of delay, I had fully resolved to proceed 
up the Nile. That determination was followed by the selec- 
tion of a boat, called cangiah, in Egypt. Having procured 
one of about 150 ardebs (750 bushels) — the only one in fact 
to be had at that advanced state of the season — in company 
with Ben Hamet, the Reis, and the donkeys, we rode to the 
gate of the American Consulate. As usual, his agent was 
not to be found at home. 

We then proceeded, to the English Embassy, and the 
solemn instrument of hire — this indenture of cangiah — was 
formally written in Arabic, and left for translation in the 
hands of the cawass. 

The next day we returned, found the papers ready, and 
this transaction was closed to the satisfaction of all parties, 
except the consular agent, who never was paid by the Reis 
Suleiman. 



the translation. 

The contract ran in the following words : 

1 Wednesday, the 23d day of the month Showel, of the 
year 1263, Mr. , Knight Errant, an American, has 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 299 

agreed to take a boat from the Reis Suleiman Mahomet, 
floatman of the Nile, to go up the Nile as far as Wacldy 
Haifa — or to Jericho, if both parties are agreed, upon the 
following conditions. 

1. The boat is to be navigated by eight able men, com- 
prising the Reis and steersman — excluding men with their 
thumbs cut off, or blind of both eyes. 

2. The Reis and crew to be always obedient to the hirer, 
who is to be Lord High Admiral of the Navy, with powers 
as supreme as the Grand Turk — to stop where he pleases, etc. 

3. Boat to be in perfect order, warranted free from rats 
and other vermin — no logs shall be put before the bows, nor 
any stones tied to the rudder. 

4. None of the crew shall leave the boat without permis 
sion, under pretence of seeing their sweethearts, or for 
tobacco, or to smoke, under penalty of severe " catting" and 
a dinner on pork. If any run away, the Reis to run after 
them. 

5. The boat must sail day and night if the wind blows ; 
if calm, they must track up the Nile, tackled to the vessel 
as~to a cart. 

6. The Reis must select snug places to stop at night ; 
they must be safe from the attacks of rats, hyenas, jackals, 
and land-robbers. 

7. Reis is not allowed to take on board any of his cousins ; 
brothers, sweethearts or cronies, and no goods except the 
owner's. 

8. The Reis shall be allowed twenty-four hours at Esneh, 
or Sioot, to make bread — this is understood not to include 
the privilege of making love or playing 'possum. 

9. It is understood, that all the crew shall not smoke at 
once. At noon, when.it is smoking hot on deck, the crew 
must abstain from all dances, banjo playing, and singing, as 



300 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

they understand it, while the charterer or his friends are 
taking a siesta. 

10. Terms — first month payable in advance. 

11. All disputes to be referred to her Majesty's consul at 
Cairo — and both parties will wait patiently until they hear 
from the Imperial Lady at Saint Jame's. 

"Dated, Cairo, Showel 23, 1263." 



"This contract "was duly acknowledged and witnessed. 
Both parties subscribed. The hirer merely attached a 
flourish to his name, a sort of triumphal curve at the com- 
pletion of a wonderful deed, and an arch expression of the 
gammony nature of the law of the land. Reis Suleiman 
sealed the instrument with his signet, and as the weight of 
his authority fell upon the roll, it left the impression of a 
ring of Arabic talismanic symbol, much like the outlines of 
a smashed spider. I often thought of the significance of 
that act ; and when among the ruins of Thebes, the mind 
referred back to that scene to explain the mighty import of 
some of the cartouches of the ancient kings, who stamped 
their initial on granite, and thus left the original of that 
custom of seals which has been retained by their posterity 
in wax." 



THE ISLAND OF PHILCS. 

;< Fair was the Isle, as Sylph abode, I ween, 
Or Pleasure's graceful realm — with hill and dale, 
And woods, and sleepy dells — a varied scene, 
Where tumbling :ascades. misting to the gale, 
In silvery course slow winding, charmed the vale." 

" Having dismissed our guides, who were clamorous for 
backsheesh, and turning away from the crowd, which pressed 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 301 

upon us to convey us over in their mudscow, we hurried 
away from the landing, and made for our boat, which was at 
anchor near the point of a projecting headland. 

" The party was soon rowed across the Nile, and shortly 
after leaving the left bank we came abruptly in sight of the 
temple of Isis, as Philoe, like a beautiful creation, floated out 
upon the water, embosomed, as it were, amid the most 
charming dells and gorgeous natural scenery, unsurpassed by 
any thing ever viewed on earth. Passing by the side of 
craggy and picturesque rocks which fringed the border of 
the wild and rapid current, now catching views of drooping 
palms, bowing their foliaged heads as if in homage to the 
refreshing waters ; again contemplating with rapture the 
exuberance and beauty of the unnumbered flowers that 
adorned the shore, mingling with clusters of acacias clamber- 
ing among the rocks, we indulged full long in gazing upon 
this panorama of beauty breaking through the openings of 
ruined pylac and the relics of fallen towers ; and beyond, 
where at "the sudden turn of the shore we viewed the high 
and pointed needles of porphyry bristle around that rocky 
barrier which loomed against the sky, and frowned like the 
citadel of the ancient gods, over the wild wanderings of the 
turbid Nile. Far beyond the reach of the eye, the bold 
Nubian chain rose gracefully from the valley, and swelled in 
fantastic forms from amid picturesque vales and dells ; now 
approaching near the isle of Berbc, and separated only to 
inclose within its encircling belt the wonderful ruins of those 
temples which were dedicated to Isis by Ptolemy, and held 
" sacred" in the memory of the priests, from the tragedy of 
the murdered and embalmed Osiris. 

"Philoe, no less " the beautiful" than devotional in its 
aspect of inland loveliness, thus surrounded and hemmed in 
by its marginal of granite, and occupied by the masses of 



30S SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

ruined edifices, presents due claims to entitle it to its appel- 
lation of beauty. Thus situated, where the river is strait- 
ened within the circuit of a quarter of a mile, it seems 
rather to float like a fairy isle in the middle of a circum- 
scribed lake." 

And to economize our limits, our last extract shall be the 
fine sketch of the Ride to Karnac by moonlight. 

" How gloriously the moon poured down her richest beams 
to illuminate the massive columns, towers, obelisks and sta- 
tues of the palacial temple of Sesostris, on the night of our 
return to Luxor. Halting awhile before the figures of the 
colossal kings, whose sculptured faces shone almost with 
intelligence beneath that lamp of beauty, after a brief sur- 
vey we spurred our donkeys, and were off for Karnac. 
Away we rode over the silver plains of waving halfeh grass, 
and urged our animals at topmost speed, so eager were we 
to revel among the shades of departed grandeur. 

" Now dashed we down through the ranks of colossal 
sphinxes, w r hose proportions appeared grandly enlarged 
under that magic moonlight, and seemed like mighty couch- 
ing lions, with silver names, guarding the approach of the 
noblest avenue in the world. Suddenly we stopped under 
the lofty gateway of the Ptolemaic towers, and as we stood 
beneath, shielded from fair Diana's potent ray, these portals 
loomed majestically up like flood-gates for the streaming 
moonlight ; and the pyice themselves, bearing their forms 
like the gnomon of a dial, cast the broad shadows of the past 
upon the face of the sleeping earth. 

" How vividly that lunar glory animates the forms of a 
second row of sphinxes beyond, while the light from the 
ethereal gushing fountain falls upon the massive corridors 
behind, whose majestic columns glow beneath it like the 
golden tubes of a cathedral organ. What high enthusiasm 



SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 303 

is kindled at this sight ! How eagerly we sought the temples 
of Karnac beyond, and what emotions seized the soul as the 
obelisk was first discovered, projecting its airy form towards 
heaven, like an illumined watchtower in that immense sea of 
desolation and ruins, stretching far away in front. Who is 
not spell-bound by the mysterious influence of such a scene 
of^departed greatness and fallen power ; and at such an 
hour ? The 'imagination is appalled by the overwhelming 
reality, — astonished to find its grandest conceptions outdone. 
The conflict of rapid and mingled feelings, which were too 
great for utterance, compelled our lips to silence. We were 
confounded by the apparition of such stupendous and un- 
looked-for monuments. Wonder sat supreme over all the 
mind, concentrating thought to a single point — even as that 
bright s moon [ruled the widespread concave of the sky, 
attracting upward to her silver zone all the waking eyes of 
earth. All was [grand, supernatural, and glorious, at that 
hour, among the ruins of prostrate Karnac ! * * * 

" There was a spell — a fascination of the sight — a charm 
of thought — a chain of woven fantasies and deep reflection — 
mingled with the melancholy of contemplating that scene, 
which won us to the spot, and made jt difficult to remove 
away. That influence was as mysterious as the mystic 
power of those pompous rituals of a forgotten hierarchy, 
that had enslaved the souls of millions within those temple 
walls, and whose strong arm had bound the victims of their 
superstition in the hopeless chains of their own sensual 
and abominable iniquity. 

" Intoxicated with delight, we returned from the scene, 
and taking our course along the plain, within the hour were 
again on board our cangiah, and in the arms of sleep, to 
refresh oursejves for an early ride in the morning." 



304 SKETCHES AND REVIEWS. 

Our space for extracts is completely filled, and yet we are 
conscious that not one-half hath been told of these Charms 
of the Nile. 

The purpose of this notice is well fulfilled, if it induce 
the reader to take up this book, as one of his most agreeable 
and instructive guides and companions through that Land 
of Wizard- Wonders, and along that River which has 
marked the course of Empires. 



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